Over His Head
by Lord Fluffles
Summary: The Peach Creek High junior-senior camping trip is something of a legend amongst the students there. Stories of friendships, romance, and parties circulate the town with each passing year. Normally Edd likes to play it safe, but when you are caught in a landslide with your childhood tormenter, things get a little interesting.
1. Prologue

"Ed! Ed, you come back here this instant!" A voice cried out after its wayward friend had abandoned him. How was it that after all of these years, Edd and his friends would somehow _still _find themselves in such ridiculous situations.

"Cram it, Sockhead," Another voice grumbled angrily, looking over at his fellow trapped friend. "This is lousy enough without having you give me a headache."

"I believe that would be the blood flow to your head, Eddy," Edd smirked and cocked his head back towards Eddy, who was dangling upside down from a tree with each limb tangled in one vine or another. Luckily Edd was right side up, but he instead had a few branches stabbing him in the gut.

"I'll show you blood flow to the head," Eddy grumbled before looking down the path that their friend had went seemingly days ago. "How long has he been gone, anyway?"

"Well, Eddy, judging by the sun's location compared to when we first wound up in this mess?" Edd squinted his eyes as he looked up at the sky for a moment, "I'd say around two hours."

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Eddy half-screamed, practically having the steam blow out from his ears.

"I got help, guys!" A third voice finally called from behind the two.

"Oh, that's great, Ed! As you can see, we've been less than-" Edd stopped in mid-sentence when he finally turned to see who exactly their 'help' was. "Ed... Did you bring Plank?"

"Johnny said he said that he could help!" Ed shouted back up the tree, waving the 2x4 hunk of wood with crude crayon drawings for a face and a goatee.

"When I get my hands on you, Lumpy..." Eddy groaned and writhed in his tangle of vines.

"Okay Plank, help them!" Ed shouted as he tossed Plank at Eddy, smacking him square in the head, and by some miracle, releasing him.

"Ow!" Eddy hissed and sat up, "Oh Ed...?"

"Yes Eddy?"

"Come here!" Eddy yelled and tackled Ed to the ground.

"Gentlemen, please! A little help here?" Edd called down to his two friends, before he heard a sawing noise. "What on earth?" He looked up to see Plank sitting on a branch, with a hacksaw laying next to him... As well as his vines being snapped. "Oh my... But how?"

With that last question though, he found himself on top of his two friends, Eddy of which had not seemed all too happy becoming a pillow for the young scientist. "I... Thank you, Plank?" He commented, realizing that the board was now sitting next to the three. "I suppose I'll take him back to johnny then?"

"Pfft, you do that. I've had enough of this crazy day," Eddy groaned and held his hand against his head. "Double D, next time you want to test out one of your weird tents, just do it on your own."

"Oh ha, ha, Eddy. You're the one that wanted me to make a self-constructing tent for our junior-senior camping trip," Edd crossed his arms, holding Plank in his left hand.

"I said I wanted one that put itself together, not explode us into a tree," Eddy gave Edd a wry look before shaking his head. "Seriously though, can you see it now? All of those seniors will be camping with us, I mean, it's practically a babe factory with babes for the taking!"

"Oh yes, Eddy, because I'm so sure that you'll woo all of the women," Edd smirked and rolled his eyes.

"What? Chicks dig me, Double D, my brother just always taught me not to kiss and tell," Eddy laughed a little with his signature cocky grin to match. It was true though; ever since that growth spurt back before freshman year, he really had become the talk of the school. He wasn't a jock quite like Kevin, but he certainly had the muscle that a lot of the girls found attractive. To prove that point, he even had gotten together with Nazz for a few months before he decided that he just couldn't handle how 'girly' she was.

Edd hadn't really changed all too much, still wearing his hat like if it was going to save his life one day, but he had become a little less self-conscious about the scar he was hiding under it. Even now though, the only people to have actually seen it had been Sarah, Eddy, and Ed. His hair was grown out a little now, with a bit of a shaggy style, but his hat still covered most of it usually.

Ed had changed probably the least, at least physically. He grew a little taller, so his trademark green coat fit him a little better now, which he still wore practically every day. His bathing habits improved, to which Edd almost became religious because it had to take nothing less than an act of divine intervention to create that miracle. Lastly though, Ed had started wearing glasses; while Ed was notoriously thick as a brick wall covered by another two brick walls, a lot of his trouble in school apparently was attributed to his need for glasses and his dyslexia. Not that his work _ethic _changed all too much.

"Well guys, I think I best be off. I have a lot of packing and organizing to do for the trip," Edd smiled and waved farewell to his friends.

"And labeling each bag and everything in them," Eddy snickered a little with Ed and waved for him to follow, "Come on, Lumpy, let's go grab a bite to eat."

"Right behind you, Eddy!" Ed replied and followed his friend back towards his van. Out of all of the Eds, Ed was the only one that actually hadn't gotten his own car. Eddy's dad gave him one for his birthday, where he owned a car dealership, while Edd instead had gotten his through 'hard work' and 'dedication', as he put it.

* * *

"Let's get you back to Johnny, Plank," Edd couldn't help but laugh a little at himself for talking to an inanimate object, but it had always been a humorous retreat from reality for him. Even after all of these years, Johnny still was good friends with Plank, although he didn't carry him around everywhere like he had used to.

Edd was in a rather good mood, though. Like most of the juniors and seniors at Peach Creek High, he was counting down the days until the camping trip; while it wasn't an officially sanctioned event at the school, they knew good and well about it. After all, every year after tests were over with, the seniors would go; it was actually a new addition to allow the juniors in on it this go around. Mostly because of that huge prank that both grades pulled on the school staff a while back, it kind of earned respect for the junior class.

To think though, merely years ago if you asked Edd to go camping, he would tell you a list of all of the germs and infections you could receive, but after about two dozen sessions of therapy, he was far less neurotic. Sure, he still compulsively cleaned his hands and organized his room, but the labels and required sterilization were a thing of the past... usually.

"Nothing really has changed after all this time," Edd quietly murmured to himself as he watched the houses and streets pass by his car. It was true though, the cul-de-sac, and Peach Creek in general was almost exactly the same. Sure, Kevin moved a little up the street with his family, but they were still within walking distance. "Maybe I should look into out of state college," He looked over at Plank, as if expecting a response from the inanimate piece of lumber.

Sure, he didn't want to have to leave Eddy or Ed, but there was really nothing in Peach Creek, Lemon Springs, or even Strawberry Falls. Sure, there were malls and jobs, but the trio of towns was a hardly known community. If you went to any of the neighboring cities and told them where you were from, they would probably ask 'where?'. They had a community college in Strawberry Falls, but Edd wanted more... You can't get a doctorate from somewhere like that.

"Are you excited for the camping trip, Plank?" Edd smiled and looked over at the board in his passenger's seat for a moment before laughing a little to himself. Honestly? He wasn't as ecstatic about it as Eddy was, but Edd really hadn't dated anyone for a while, nor did he really have the interest. His plans were to go to college out of state, so a relationship would just tie him to Peach Creek more than what he already was.

"Yeah, I figured," Edd carried on a one-sided conversation with Plank, albeit just for a personal joke. Despite the fact that there was most certainly going to be alcohol on the camping trip, he honestly was just looking forward to spending time with his friends. Between work and school, he had been notoriously busy around the clock. Not that he neglected Ed and Eddy, but he really had noticed how less he had seen of them in the past couple years.

* * *

"Kevin, you really fucked your car up this time," Marie's voice echoed throughout the shop from her comfy little spot underneath the school jock's busted cobalt. "Your alignment is off, and your brake line is almost snapped in half."

"Yeah, yeah, you know the drill. Just tell me how much," Kevin rolled his eyes, slicking his hair back again and putting his hat back on.

"Honestly? I'd say about $200, maybe two-fifty," Marie gave him the usual estimate. Despite being the star football quarterback of Peach Creek High, Kevin was notorious for his late night drag races that he would have with some of the other jocks around school. He apparently made some money from it though; that or his father paid for these repairs, which was unlikely.

"That's it? Well, I'll be back here in a couple hours then, Kanker. Just make sure she's fixed and looks nice and shiny again," He said before leaving the shop, half-slamming the door behind him.

"God, fucking asshole," Marie grumbled and rolled herself out from underneath the car. Kevin always promised her to secrecy, because he wanted everyone to think he was some kind of expert mechanic. The truth was that he always came to Mike's Repair Shop after every race. He almost always trashed his car, or at the very least, his tires were ruined.

"Was that Kevin kid back in here again? For such a common customer, he always has some of the worst damage. Wasn't his carburetor busted the last time?" Mike called from his office with an aggravated sigh. "Go on your lunch break real quick, I have a feeling that his car's going to take the usual couple hours to fix. Besides, I know you could use a smoke after talking to that asshole, I know I always do."

"Thanks, Mike, I'll be back here in a few then," Marie nodded and went into the bathroom to wash up. Her blue hair was stained black with soot as per usual, but she honestly loved her job. Ever since she was a kid, she loved working on cars, so when Mike offered her the part-time job, she gladly accepted. Sadly, where she was still only seventeen, she wasn't allowed to do all of the work that she wanted, but it still was a nice paycheck; especially where Mike was wanting to make her an assistant manager after she graduated.

After washing up, she made her way outside and popped her usual menthol cigarette into her mouth and took a nice, long drag off of it. Despite how amazing her job was, there were always those customers that just made her want to scream. She wasn't really that hungry, but she figured she could just smoke another cigarette or two before having to head back.

"Huh, Peach Creek really doesn't change, does it?" She quietly whispered to herself as she looked out at the surrounding shops. It was like a town trapped in time, ignoring the passing years that the outside world finds itself withering to. Honestly, Marie wasn't really sure if she even wanted the manager job; Lee and May always told her that she should head off to college, considering she was always praised for being the 'smart' one. "By the way, you said you had me covered for this weekend, right?" Marie called into the shop to Mike.

"Huh? Oh yeah, the camping trip; don't worry, I got Tim to cover it. You have fun on that camping trip; I remember back when I went on that back in the day..." He began to ramble off on his old 'glory days', to which Marie took as an invitation to stop listening. While Mike was a good guy and a great boss, he did have a tendency to go off on tangents that nobody really followed him on.

"Still though... A camping trip, I mean, there's going to be a lot of guys there," Marie shrugged, looking up at the clouds that lazily crawled across the sky above. Life had changed a little over the years for her and her sisters, but honestly things turned not at all like she expected when she was younger. The infamous Kanker sisters were inseparable, and yet, now they were more distant and hung out with their own crowds. Lee spent time with a pretty shady crowd, and May actually joined the softball team as their ace in the hole. This left Marie as the only real 'social outcast' out of all her siblings; she sat with a few of the goth crowd at lunch, but never really became friends with any of them.

Lee actually grew her hair out a little, but kept those curls of hers in her eyes as always. She did start wearing more dresses, but she always spent her time out partying with her friends now. May had actually cut her hair down to a chin length bob cut to keep it out of the way during practice, which her infamous Kanker strength had proven valuable to the team on several occasions. Marie was once again left in the dust on her own appearance; keeping her short hair that covered one eye at all times, although she had taken up dying it different colors more often. Her outfits were more or less the same, being a good balance of practicality and style. Although, most of her shirts that weren't initially black were dyed due to her job.

"Tomorrow after school..." She reminded herself just how close that trip really was. In a way, she didn't really want to go, but her sisters were dragging her out there. According to them, it was going to be a good opportunity to finally get a boyfriend, or at least some friends that didn't look like 'vampire movie rejects'.

She took another puff of her cigarette and extinguished it on the pavement below before checking her watch and deciding that it was about time for her to start cleaning up Kevin's usual mess. With that, she started heading back into the store with a smug smirk on her face; as if she was actually a little more excited about the trip than even she realized.

* * *

**Okay, so I did just put out another story and deleted it, mostly because I realized how much of a knob end I was being. That'll teach me to write when I am sleep deprived. Anyway though, here we are with another story that I actually plan on finishing. Although, I feel like it'll be a lot longer than my graphic organizer says it should be.**

** Anyway, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, favorite, follow, or leave a scenario and I'll definitely pay attention. I adore constructive criticism, so let's see where this goes.**

** Although, this comes off more as an introduction/prologue than an actual chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1 - A Party of the Ages

"Oh, please, Eddy. Your story is fictitious at best," Edd rolled his eyes as he looked at the driver. When he and Ed had asked him what he meant by 'I already have plans for the trip', they hadn't expecting him to explain about a girl.

"What? You asked, guys," Eddy shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road though. "I told you about my kiss and tell policy an you made me break it."

"But Marie Stanford?! Practically everyone in school has been going after her, so what makes you so special?" Edd wore his disbelief on his sleeve, but Eddy remained as cocky as ever.

"Well, I happened to find a letter from her in my locker," He pulled out his wallet and waved it back and forth. "Check it, it's in the front pocket."

Ed grabbed the wallet and began to examine the supposed contents, reading over the letter with a goofy grin plastered on his face. Edd only laughed a little at how easily entertained Ed really could be at times. It was the Friday after their tests, so they decided it would probably be better if they just carpooled to the campsite; although four hours of driving was definitely a little grating when you only had the save five songs to listen to on radio.

Luckily the weather over the weekend was forecasted to be bright and sunny for all three days, so the swimming hole was bound to be the hottest spot on the trip. Granted Friday was probably going to be spent mostly setting up the tents and fire pits.

"I can't believe they chose the camping spot to be all of the way out in Wishspring Hollow," Eddy grumbled yet again, hating the fact that he had to drive for half of what's left of the day.

"Come now, Eddy, I've always wanted to go to Wishspring," Edd smiled and looked over the brochure of the area yet again. While Wishspring Hollow was a popular camping location, hardly anyone dared to go there on the weekend of the senior trip. He pointed at something on the brochure, "Apparently it resides on the caldera of a volcano, so there are several hot springs throughout the forest; they're still not even sure where all of the locations reside."

"Hot springs? That gives me somewhere to take Marie after a few beers at least," Eddy smirked a little at that.

"But if she's drunk, then that's cheating, Eddy!" Ed scowled at his friend, hating the idea of taking advantage of someone intoxicated.

"I agree, Eddy, that's just not right," Edd also joined in on scolding their friend, who only shrugged and let out a soft laugh.

"I said a few beers; ya know, when you get that nice buzz going. You know I don't do that kind of thing to a girl," It was Eddy's turn to scowl, as if the implication alone was offensive.

"Good, it just sounded like that's what you meant..." Edd sighed in relief, turning back to his brochure and eying over some of the other features. "Apparently the forest is home to a swamp that houses several bizarre creatures for the area. Oh, what I would give just to analyze the soil in there alone!"

"Jeez, Sockhead, only you could find a way to turn a drinking party and camping trip into a science experiment," Eddy glared at his friend, but only for a moment before he looked back onto the road. Normally he couldn't care less and would just talk to his friends, but the roads this far out of town were winding and hectic at best.

"What if they had zombies in the swamp? I read a comic about that yesterday, it was called _The Squadron of Blackness_." Ed put in his usual input. Thankfully, as he grew older, his taste in comic books matured a little with him. He went from cheap b-rated horror comics and movies to ones that were actually a little scary, or at least funny with how bad they were. "If you go there, you may grow another you that'll be evil, Double D, and you don't have a shotgun to stop him!"

"I'm sure I'll be fine, Ed," Edd gave his friend a nervous smile, not able to help but being a little overwhelmed with his usual antics. Being trapped in a car with him for four hours could definitely do that to any sane mind. "Besides, if I grew another me, I'm sure he'd be just as interested in how it happened as I would."

"No! Read it and you'll see!" Ed reached into his coat pocket and started to pull out its contents in a search for the wayward book. Amongst his belongings sat a gravy bowl filled with gravy, a full loaf of bread, several wrinkled up papers, a golf club, a rope with a lasso tied at the end, a ladder that would have come in handy rescuing someone from a tree, and at least fifteen sponges.

"Good lord, Ed! Why didn't you just pack your clothes in there?!" Edd watched, slack jawed at what he was witnessing. "No, wait, how does even half of that fit?! There's physically no way that ladder should have fit through the hole, let alone be buried into your pockets with all of those other items!"

"Don't be silly, Double D, if it wouldn't fit, then how did I get it in there to begin with?" Ed was genuinely confused by his friend's question.

"Seriously, I thought you were the smart one," Eddy nodded in agreement.

"But- How- I..." Edd sputtered, feeling as if his sense of reality was starting to crumble around him. "Just drive," He settled on not even arguing, knowing that it would end fruitlessly.

* * *

"Watch where you're going, Lee!" Marie hissed at her sister, who just happened to be driving the three notorious Kanker sisters to the campsite at Wishspring Hollow. Marie huffed and crossed her arms as yet another car was almost plowed by Lee's monstrous van. "I swear we're going to end up pushing someone into a ditch with the way you drive."

"Do you want to drive?!" Lee barked back at Marie, not even bothering to keep her eyes on the road.

"Maybe I could see better since my hair isn't in both of my eyes," Marie retorted, only to receive a punch on the shoulder from her elder sister. "Ow!" She growled and punched her back, causing the car to swerve a little, ending that escapade before it even began.

"I can't believe we're finally spending time together again!" May chimed in, leaning up from her spot in the back seat and wrapping her arms around both of her sister's seats. "It's like we're kids again!"

"Minus chasing the Eds," Marie commented with a slight laugh. "Seriously, what came over us back then?"

"Honestly? I thought it was fun to mess with them," Lee smirked. "Especially that Eddy. Man, he turned out to be a hunk."

"Ew, even now I just can't see it. He's so... Conceited," Marie shuddered at the mention of that guy. She really didn't care too much for him, although Ed was funny, and Edd was actually pretty cute.

"Well, look at you using those fancy words," Lee laughed at her sister. Ever since she stopped bugging the Eds, she actually started applying herself in school. Both her and May were shocked to see their blue-haired sister actually having a hidden intelligence. "I still say you should go to some big college and put those brains of yours to some use."

"Yeah, Marie, you were on the honor roll last year, weren't you?" May nodded in agreement with Lee.

"Well, it was nothing special..." Marie felt her cheeks warm up a little.

"Was nothing? Seriously? You are way too smart to be a Kanker," Lee reprimanded her sister for that thought alone.

"I don't know... I mean, Mike was wanting to make me an assistant manager after I graduate," Marie shrugged.

"Yeah, and it'd be a waste, I mean, why don't you go to Harvard and become some fancy lawyer or something?" Lee inquired.

"I mean, I could, but I really don't care too much about law..." Marie quietly replied, having her voice grow weaker at the mention of her future. Honestly, if she went to college, she had her own plans in what kind of career she was going in to.

"By the way, did you grab your medicine? I figured I should ask 'fore we get too far from Peach Creek," Lee motioned a shaking bottle with her hand.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's in my bag in the trunk," Marie shrugged, "I should have enough for a few weeks still."

"Good, by the way, I want you to do me a favor tonight..." Lee suddenly turned serious, looking her sister dead in the eyes.

"W-What?" Marie was a little taken aback by her sister's intense gaze, to which she could feel through that hair of hers. "And keep your eyes on the road!"

"Ah, I know what I'm doing when I drive," Lee shrugged off her comment. "But no, what I want you to do is get drunk, and go find a cute guy, and get fucking laid! Seriously, you're way too tense for your own good! And you too, May, I know you've been way too busy with softball to have any fun."

Both May and Marie's faces lit up a bright red from how blunt their sister was being, but Marie retorted with an angry huff, "What if I don't want to? I really don't care about that kind of thing."

"Look, if _that's _what you're into, that's fine, then go find some cute girl and have a good time," Lee smirked teasingly at her little sister.

"I- What?!" Marie's face turned even more red and she sent a fist flying into Lee's shoulder. "No! I like guys, I really do!"

"Ow! I know, I know, I was just teasing, Jesus," Lee rolled her shoulder to brush off the pain. "What about you, May, any guy you got your eye on?"

May's face only flushed again as she twiddled her thumbs nervously in thought. "Well, there was this cute guy on the football team..."

"Really?! Who?" Both Lee and Marie turned their attention to their younger sister that sat in the back seat. May just stared blankly in return, as if shell shocked by the sudden barrage of curiosity that had hit her.

"Well... I uhm..." Her voice trailed off, and so she realized just how long this trip really was going to be.

* * *

Fresh air and the freedom to stretch felt like heaven to Edd, especially after being crammed into Eddy's small car for four hours straight. He left it to Ed to set up their tents, while he and Eddy unpacked the food and drinks. It looked like the entire cul-de-sac was getting together in their own little nook of the campgrounds; well, the ones that were old enough anyway. Edd was silently thankful that Sarah and Jimmy were sophomores still.

"So, you gonna find yourself a girl and finally get laid, Double D?" Eddy asked out of the blue, causing Edd to spit out his water in shock. "What? It was just a question."

"I.. That's personal, Eddy," Edd's cheeks flushed a little from shock, letting a wry frown settle on his lips. Crossing his arms, he spoke again, "Just because I haven't had sex yet, doesn't mean it's bad. I'd just rather be sure it's with someone I really care about."

"Pfft, yeah, because you sure as hell weren't head over heels for Sarah and you two never did anything," Eddy rolled his eyes and sat the cooler down by the fire pit. "I mean, you two dated for what, two years?"

"Neither of us were really ready for something like that!" Edd's face only grew darker and darker the more he thought about it. It seemed like it was yesterday that he broke up with Sarah, when it was actually around a year and a half before.

"Yeah, yeah. Besides, I'm sure Lumpy would've been pretty pissed about it anyway," Eddy nodded in understanding. "Seriously though, at least _try _to get a girl while you're here. For me, at least; I'm tired of seeing you so lonely, ya know? I mean, I don't know if you realize it, but you get this look ever since you broke up with Sarah... Kind of like you're longing for something that just isn't there."

"I really doubt that, Eddy. Since that break-up, I've only really focused on my school work and what I'm going to do for college," Edd wanted to nip that idea in the bud before Eddy starting getting any strange ideas to 'hook him up' with some of his lady friends.

"See? That's the problem. You are still a junior, Edd; you have a whole year to think about that. I mean, High School is supposed to be the best years of our lives, and you're just squandering it!" Eddy shook his head disapprovingly. He really did worry about Edd sometimes; after all, his friend was a social recluse that hadn't even _looked _at a girl since Sarah, let alone really talk to one.

"I'm sorry Eddy, it's just how I am..." Edd made a wry expression and ended the conversation there. Before Eddy could try to bring it back up though, they heard another voice call out from behind them.

"Alright guys, we have pretty much everyone here, and thanks to the prank we pulled on the school staff a few months back, the juniors were invited. Look, let's not drag this party down so we can maybe turn this into a tradition. I see that most of the tents have been set up, so I think it's about time we show you what the football team brought out here for you all!" Kevin called from the top of a boulder with a megaphone. With that last sentence though, the football team's seniors and juniors charged out from behind the boulder, each carrying their own keg; some of which were showing off and holding them above their heads, while others were struggling to carry them along. "We got the beer, and if you all followed the instructions, we should have plenty of hard liquor too. So, once the last few tents are put up, let's start some fires and get the real party started!"

"Now, that's what I'm talking about!" Eddy cheered as he watched the jocks set the kegs down in the middle of the camp. He then turned and opened up one of the coolers, "Awesome, my brother bought the good stuff for us."

"You asked your _brother _to get you alcohol?" Edd looked at him incredulously. Ever since Eddy beat his brother in that 'game' of Uncle, their relationship had changed a lot.

"Yeah, he bought us some Everclear, rum, vodka, and... Why scotch? He knows I hate scotch," Eddy shuddered at the idea of drinking it.

"Well, maybe the others will want it," Edd suggested.

"Alright guys, if you brought some liquor, or even more beer, bring it to the middle of the camp and we'll organize it. Also, if you want to be the bartender for mixed drinks, come see Rolf here, he'll test to see if you have what it takes." Kevin pointed to the burly shepherd that stood next to the boulder, who was carrying three huge wooden kegs; one on his back, and one in each arm.

"Did Rolf bring more of his mead, guys?!" Ed popped up behind his two friends, who both screamed in surprise.

"Oh, gracious Ed... But yes, it would seem he did," Edd nodded in approval. Even though he disdained the idea of drinking usually, he had to admit that Rolf's Nana could make amazing mead. Granted, his Nana was probably one of only twelve people in the world to actually still _make _mead.

"Come on, Lumpy, you should go be a bartender," Eddy smirked at his friend, "I remember the last time we had you do that."

"Eddy, don't even suggest it! The world doesn't need to see Ed's 'Evil Tim'!" Edd was taken aback by the mere suggestion, even if it were meant as a joke. "Think of the consequences if the others were to taste that nightmare; it would be like the black plague and tuberculosis fused into one!"

Eddy, by this point, was on the ground in laughter. The Evil Tim was a half-shot of vodka with ketchup and soy sauce layered over it. The only person that they have ever seen manage to drink it was Ed himself, which was about as unexpected as the sky being blue.

"But Double D, it was a good idea!" Ed frowned, having his eyes water in that over-exaggerated manner that Edd could never find the courage to say no to.

"I..." He tried to object outright, but that look almost made him melt in sympathy for his friend. "... Fine, go ask Rolf."

"I will be the best bartender ever!" Ed cheered as he sprinted over towards the boulder, a wide smile stretched across his face.

"If I die tonight, then I am blaming you," Eddy glared at Edd with the sarcasm practically oozing from every pore.

* * *

"Ed Boy, I require another ketchup doo-hicky!" Rolf shouted across the makeshift bar that was created from crates, surf boards, and several stools and logs.

"One more Evil Tim coming up!" Ed shouted back across the bar at Rolf as he skillfully mixed the ingredients and slid the glass down to him. Eddy and Edd only could watch in flabbergast at how popular the nightmarish drink had become. Not really for the taste, but they started making beer pong tables out of it, as an extra incentive to make you not want to take that shot. That, and the vodka was really harsh, while the soy sauce actually covered up the alcohol burn.

"My word... See, I told you that he would make us proud," Edd smirked at Eddy with that 'I told you so' look.

"Yeah, yeah, but I am too afraid to ask for a screwdriver. Last time, I ended up with a glass of Everclear with an actual screwdriver just sitting in it," Eddy shook his head, having pawned the glass off to Plank, which ended in surprise considering the glass actually was emptied and nobody knew where it went.

"So he's a bit unorthodox, he at least tries," Edd shrugged, taking another drink of his mead. Although he was at a party, he was about as far from being drunk as you could get though. He really wasn't a fan of anything past a decent buzz, mostly because he felt how it impaired his ability to think.

"I suppose... Oh, hello..." Eddy grinned wickedly as he watched Marie Stanford of all people pass by with a beckoning signal from her finger that told him to follow. "Sorry to leave you, Sockhead, but business calls." He grinned and chugged down the rest of the beer and handing the empty cup to Edd, "Do me a favor while I'm gone, and get a girl!"

With that, Edd watched his friend slick his hair back and walk off after the hottest girl in school. He only shook his head and took another drink of his mead and looked around the camp. There were several people at the bar, some playing beer pong at the several tables, some cooking food over fires, and some couples just making out in their drunken haze.

… And then there was Edd. A nerdy, socially awkward, scientist and inventor that hadn't even talked to a girl in a year and a half. Well, apart from those that he talked to at work. "Maybe I really am a little lonely..." He murmured to himself, having Eddy's words from earlier playing back in his head on repeat. Maybe he really should be enjoying himself instead of worrying about the future so much. After all, what's going to happen is going to happen one way or another.

"Wow, I really think the mead is getting to me if I'm honestly contemplating this," Edd rolled his eyes and sat the mug down before heading back to his tent for his bag. "I'm just going to grab a book, some snacks, and go find a quiet place to read."

With that, he dug through his bag for the smaller one that carried his books in one pocket and a flashlight with spare batteries in the other. On his way out, he grabbed a can of soda and a bag of chips before wandering off to the outskirts of the camp. 'Reading in that drunken frenzy will be impossible,' He thought to himself as he searched for a nice, quiet spot to read.

* * *

"Hey, Rolf, can I get a bloody mary?" Marie asked as she sat down onto a log at the bar. Lee had wandered off with some guy and May was busy flirting it up with Kevin, so she was once again left alone with her thoughts at a wild party.

"Huh? I know not why you would want a bloody woman, Blue-Haired Kanker Girl," Rolf only could keep his serious face for a moment before calling out to Ed, "Rolf requires one tomato juice woman, Ed-boy!"

"Coming right up, Rolf!" Ed called back, mixing the drink quickly before sliding it down the bar towards Rolf with not a single drop being spilled.

"Thanks, Rolf," Marie smiled and took the drink, looking it over from top to bottom before verifying it was okay to drink, "You had me going there for a second." Rolf really had grown more accustom to the United States over the years, actually understanding more of the 'sayings' and the names for food and drink.

"Something seems to trouble you... Would you like to discuss with Rolf?" He smiled, offering the nonjudgmental ear of the bartender. Honestly, he would do well in the profession, but he still had some aspirations on becoming a barber.

"I just don't know... Like, you know how a couple years back we stopped going after the Eds?" She paused on her more rhetorical question, but Rolf nodded either way. "Well, It's just that since then, I've been doing a lot better in school and I have a job now... Hell, I'm thinking about going to college here soon. It's just that Lee said something earlier about how I shouldn't be single and how I should be enjoying high school and having boyfriends and crap while I can, but I just don't know anymore."

"Ah, so you are conflicted, are you not? Aren't the purpose for these events to become social like a butterfly?" Rolf raised a curious eyebrow. "Maybe you should try it tonight and see if you like it. After all, what is there to lose if you don't?"

"I... I just suppose it's not really my thing, but maybe you're right," She shrugged and drank down the last of her bloody mary, only to have a mug slapped onto the table in front of her.

"Come, drink Nana's honey mead, it is sure to put hair on that chest and fun into your mind," He smiled at her and turned around to clean out a few mugs.

"What about you, Rolf, do you have any girls in your life?" Marie asked idly as she sipped at the mead, which was actually delicious, to her surprise.

"Rolf? Oh no, Rolf doesn't have any ladies, as he is just a humble son of a shepherd. In my country, we select wives after we have a job," Rolf replied without turning around, but she actually noticed his shoulders visibly sag a little, but she decided not to pry into Rolf's personal business like that.

"Well, I think I'm going to try and... talk to a few people," Marie informed the bartender before standing up and taking another drink of her mead. Now with a warm drink in her stomach, she started heading towards the barbeque pit where there were several people all talking and drinking with one another. "Just try, Marie... Just try..." She reassured herself.

* * *

Edd sighed and relaxed against the wall of the cave he found himself in. He sat right at the entrance and opened up his can of pizza flavored Pringles, which were his favorite flavor of the chips. Luckily the cave was far enough away to give him a little peace and quiet while he read, while still being able to watch over what was happening at the camp. With a flick of the switch, his flashlight turned on and he pulled out the book he had been reading earlier at the library before school let out.

"Let's see what space science holds in store for me," He murmured quietly to himself as he read over the heavy non-fiction book that covered the subject practically from A to Z.

Even now though, despite the fact he was trying to engross himself with his book, Eddy's annoying little statement pecked at the back of his head like an angry bird. Right as he was about to curse Eddy for even saying it, he heard a voice speak out to him.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone was already here." He looked up to see a silhouette that was definitely feminine, wearing what looked like cargo pants, a tank top, and a couple dozen bracelets that overlapped one another on her wrists. However, what really caught his attention was the book she was carrying in her hand as well as the bag on her back.

"Oh no, you're fine... I take it you came out here to read too?" Edd asked, moving his book to bring emphasis to the point.

"Hm? Oh, yeah... I don't handle crowds all too well, so I was wanting to take a break away from it all. Do you mind if I join you?" She questioned, moving her book a little to emphasize what for. Her voice sounded pretty familiar, but Edd wasn't really sure where he heard it.

'Probably just a classmate or something,' He deduced and nodded, "Sure, have a seat. What were you reading?"

"This? Eh, just something that most people would probably find boring... It's a book on botany," She shrugged and sat down against the opposite wall, still concealed by the shadow.

"Really? That's pretty interesting. I'm reading a book on astrophysics; about the big theories in space, as well as proven facts," Edd smiled a little, a little ecstatic to have someone else so academic in the cave with him.

"That's actually pretty cool; I'll admit that space isn't really my thing, though. I'm more interested in what's on the world that we live on. I mean, it's kind of an enigma even now, let alone if we throw in the whole of the universe into the equation." She laughed a little and opened her own bag of chips, crunching down on one. "Scientists are still finding new species of birds and plants, so who knows what else we can discover before everything's cataloged, and that's not even mentioning the creatures in the deep sea."

"Hm... I never really looked at it like that, but I do suppose I can see where you're coming from with that." He felt his blood starting to boil a little, wanting to have a playful academic debate for some reason. Which ws saying something, because rarely anything like that happened with his classmates while he was _in _school. "So..."

* * *

"Well, that went shitty," Marie cursed at herself under her breath for that decision. She ended up sounding like a complete spazz and got angry whenever they said something about it. A couple of the football jocks ended up having to step in because she started to beat down this smug guy for making fun of her hair.

She decided just to grab a book, a soda, and a snack before crawling off into her own little corner to read. Marie really didn't know how to deal with people without either going to anger, or at the very least, becoming socially awkward. After about five minutes of walking though, she found a cozy little cave to relax in. Out of the corner of her eye though, she caught a glimpse of someone already sitting in there with a flashlight turned down against a book.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone was already here," Marie said with a wry frown forming on her lips. She didn't really mean to intrude, but maybe he wouldn't mind sharing the cave as long as they both were going to just be reading.

"Oh no, you're fine... I take it you came out here to read too?" He gestured with his own book towards her hand. His voice, while masculine, had a strange familiarity to how it sounded. Marie could only really see his silhouette, but it looked like he had decently long hair and a relatively thin body.

"Hm? Oh, yeah," It took her a moment to realize he had asked a question. "I don't handle crowds all too well, so I was wanting to take a break away from it all. Do you mind if I join you?"

She could see him visibly nod, although his face was still pretty concealed in the darkness. "Sure, have a seat. What were you reading?"

'Oh, here we go... Time to be laughed at,' She thought to herself with an eye roll as she took a seat on the opposite side of the cave as him. "This? Eh, just something that most people would probably find boring... It's a book on botany."

"Really? That's pretty interesting. I'm reading a book on astrophysics; about the big theories in space, as well as proven facts," He spoke with what she could almost make out as a smile. Admittedly, she wasn't really expecting to find another reader out here, let alone one that was actually interested in science himself.

"That's actually pretty cool; I'll admit that space isn't really my thing, though. I'm more interested in what's on the world that we live on. I mean, it's kind of an enigma even now, let alone if we throw in the whole of the universe into the equation." Marie giggled a little, feeling a little more ecstatic than she probably should. It's been a while since she started a scientific debate with someone worthwhile; most people just looked at her like she was dumb... And then she tended to punch them for it. "Scientists are still finding new species of birds and plants, so who knows what else we can discover before everything's cataloged, and that's not even mentioning the creatures in the deep sea."

"Hm... I never really looked at it like that, but I do suppose I can see where you're coming from with that." There it was; that tone of voice that she wanted to hear. She could hear the fire of debate building up inside of him as they talked, and so he started his point with, "So, here's what I-" He stopped in mid sentence as the sound of thunder started to roll on outside. "Well, sounds like the news caster messed up a little."

Marie let out a little giggle at that and nodded, "Wasn't it supposed to be clear skies all night? I didn't expect Wellspring to be so unpredictable."

The sounds of people screaming came from the camp as the sound of rain started to pound against the ground and the trees like a soft drum in the distance. He only turned his head towards the camp with a smile visible through the darkness, "Should we head back?"

"Nah, it's only a little rain," Marie shook her head, not really wanting to let go of her conversational partner so soon. Besides, a little rain never hurt anyone. "I like listening to the rain while I read, it's pretty relaxing."

"You too, huh?" Edd asked more rhetorically, being followed by a bright flash outside and the low rumble of thunder, as if it were the herald of the storm.

"So, about that-" A scream was heard from outside; and not one like they heard as the storm stared, but one of pain. "What the hell?" She asked and poked her head outside, looking around for the source.

"Who was it? Can you see anything?" Edd jumped up from his comfy little spot against the wall and joined her outside, having another flash of light reveal the source of the noise. On top of the cave was apparently a pile of dirt and rocks, with a woman struggling uneasily against what looked like one of the football jocks; or at least, that's what they assumed from his size.

"Hey!" Marie called out to them, to which she was ignored, only having him curse at the girl to 'hold still' as a response. "Did you hear me, you fucking animal!" Marie shouted louder this time, only to collapse to her knees as the ground started to shake. "W-What the-"

Edd almost collapsed as well, but he managed to recover and move over to the side of the cave and tried to climb up after the jock, only to be knocked back down by another sudden quake. "The brochure said there was the occasional tremor, but why-" Edd found himself suddenly pulled into the cave by his companion as dirt started to ripple down the side of the hill, towards the cave.

"What the fuck?" She heard the guy outside say before another tremor broke the final straw, causing the loose rocks and soil to fall out from beneath him, rushing down towards the entrance of the cave. It happened so fast too, one minute there was an opening back to camp, and the next there was a pile of dirt that followed up with the same woman from outside screaming in pain yet again, but her two saviors were trapped in the darkness of the abysmal cave.

"Why did you pull us _into _the cave!?" Edd shouted in the darkness at the girl that had just saved him, feeling rage from not being able to help the girl outside, but hopefully the landslide at least would have alerted the camp.

"Because the land was coming down at an angle from above the cave, so if I pushed you back towards the camp, we both would have been buried." She explained, making hand gestures to emphasize the angles, only to realize that they were wasted in the darkness.

"I... Actually, that was pretty clever, but also a _horrible _plan! If we were outside, then it would have been easier to escape by digging ourselves out." Edd countered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Provided our heads were left exposed, as well as having none of the heavier stones collapse onto us," Marie grumbled and swung at him in the dark, hitting what she thought was his arm, "How about you just show some gratitude and we can work on a way to getting out of here?!"

"Ow!" Edd hissed in pain, feeling his heart almost stop from the sheer force of her punch against his chest. "Fine, I do suppose what has happened, has already happened." He grumbled and collapsed to the ground at the hands of yet another tremor, "The brochure said a lot of the cave systems in Wellspring have two or more entrances, so I would suggest we head that way before the tremors bring the ceiling down on us."

"See? Now that's being constructive," She congratulated him sarcastically, searching the ground for her flashlight, which only took her a moment to find and turn on. "There we go, now how about we-" She turned to finally see her partner in the light, "Edd?!"

"Marie?!" Edd's eyes widened in horror, as at that exact moment, he had turned to his partner with his own flashlight. Already, he could feel a panic attack coming on from how cruel a fate had befallen him. 'Oh for the love of science, please no...' He collapsed from the shock alone.

* * *

**And so there it is, the first real 'chapter' per se. So, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or even favorite. I enjoy constructive criticism, so go nuts.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Trapped With a Kanker

"Are you done overreacting yet?" Marie rolled her eyes at the hyperventilating Edd that trailed behind her as they walked through the dark cave. Despite the fact that she hadn't even talked to him in years, he was acting like she was just assaulting him with kisses like she used to.

"Well, forgive me, but we really haven't had the best past," Edd snarked and crossed his arms angrily.

"Exactly, the _past_. I'm pretty sure we stopped after you went off on us," Marie growled, feeling a bit of rage come up with that memory. "Just get over it, because we sure as hell have."

"I don't know if you realize this, but it's hard to get over seven years of torment from you," Edd shook his head. "But you're right; this really isn't productive just arguing. Let's just leave this accursed place and go back to not talking to each other."

"Fine." Marie grumbled.

"Fine." Edd growled back.

"Fine!" Marie hissed back at him. It only took a moment to realize just how worked up she managed to get over him. Here she was, believing that she had gotten her temper in check, and yet, with the memories of what he said dug up... She just snapped.

They both were practically stomping through the cave, having only the echoes and their deep, irritated breaths as background noise. Granted, Edd stomping sounded more like tiny taps against the pavement, to which Marie could only smirk. 'Even now he's a fucking pansy.'

"So... I left my phone back at the camp, I was thinking that if you had service, you could always call for help," Edd inquired after another few minutes of the intolerable silence.

"Edd, we're god knows how deep underground, I seriously doubt I have service..." She rolled her eyes as she pulled out her phone, flipping it open. "Well I'll be damned, two bars." With that, she dialed Lee's number in her phone and put it up to her ear, having it ring a couple times before the sound of her phone powering down echoed through the darkness. "... Or not."

"What? What just happened?!" Edd's eyes widened, feeling his nerves only grow shakier.

"Battery died. I played on it half of the trip here, so it kind of makes sense," She felt her cheeks heat up a little in embarrassment. One of their best bets to getting out was just ruined because she got bored on the trip there.

"But... Never mind, it's not like you exactly expected to be stuck in a dark cave with me," Edd shook his head, silently reprimanding himself for even thinking of blaming her for something she couldn't help. 'Easy, Eddward, if you want to both make it out of here, you have to at least keep a calm head.'

"So, I just thought of a problem," Marie commented, "What if we get hungry? The only thing we have is a bag of chips and some Pringles."

"I doubt this cave will be _that_ long, we will probably find our way back to camp pretty fast after getting out of here," Edd shrugged.

"In my experience, it's best to plan these things ahead of time; I mean, look at the whole phone situation," Marie replied, feeling more and more uneasy the more and more she thought about it.

"Fine, I believe there are an abundance of berries throughout the forest; at least, that's what the brochure said," Edd nodded in understanding.

"Brochure? You mean you actually read the brochure... For a camping trip?" Marie put her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. Even after all of these years, Edd was still probably the biggest nerd she had ever met.

"Yes, I did," Edd glared at her laughter. "It never hurts to know a little about the area you're visiting. Besides, it let me know that there is food around here."

"Just like it let you know about the tremors?" She burst out laughing this time, remembering how he tumbled down the hill. "Oh god, you should've seen the look on your face."

"Oh, ha, ha. It's not like I was expecting it," He shook his head with a wry frown plastered on his face.

"I know you weren't, that's why your face was so priceless!" She kept laughing for a good minute before finally stopping for air. Before she knew it, the cave went back to silence between the two for what felt like an eternity before Edd finally spoke up again.

"So... How have Lee and May been...?" Edd looked around the darkness casually, trying to bring up some kind of conversation to help pass the time. He really hated complete silence like that; even at the library, he had to hear soft whispers or _something _in the background. Here it was only footsteps, and the noise was pretty much unbearable.

"Huh? They've been doing okay. Lee's become a pothead though, and May's a pretty big part of the softball team," Marie shrugged, having the light wave around with the motion. "What about Ed and Eddy?"

"Eh, more or less the same I suppose. Eddy's started going to parties more often, and Ed tends to get dragged into it," Edd sighed, feeling a little disappointed at it. "Honestly though, I am going to miss them when I go off to college."

"College? Where were you wanting to go, if you don't mind me asking," Marie shot a glance back at the boy behind her.

"Not sure; probably somewhere out of state. I don't know, but Peach Creek really just doesn't have anything," He replied. "What about you? Any big plans for after you graduate?"

"Me? Nah. I'm probably going to become the assistant manager at Mike's Auto Repair, but I don't know. Lee and May think I should go to college somewhere, but none of it sounds really appealing to me... Mom wants me to become a lawyer..." Her shoulders slumped a little to that last part.

"You didn't sound to happy about that," Edd raised an eyebrow, getting the courage and the curiosity to walk up beside her to continue the conversation.

"Well, I would rather do something with botany, or maybe art, but I doubt Mom or my sisters would really approve. After all, they think if a job doesn't make money, then it's not worth it," She rolled her eyes with that less than enthusiastic explanation.

"Well, why do you need their approval? I mean, my mother wants me to become an astrophysicist, and my father wants me to become a biologist... But do you want to know what I really want to do?" Edd smirked a little at catching the curiosity in the Kanker's face.

"What?"

"One of those people that put those little plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces," He said with a perfectly serious face, only to have both of them break out into laughter after a moment of awkward silence.

"In the category of jobs that you forget exist, that goes right up there with the sex-toy factory," Marie's comment only sent them both back into laughter.

"I never even... Who thinks of that?!" Edd almost doubled over from his laughter.

"This girl!" She said proudly and pointed at herself.

While their conversations went on over random topics, they barely noticed the passage of time before they were finally met with a breath of fresh air. Surrounding the exit of the cave was trees that spired higher than what they could even see through the darkness. Luckily the rain had stopped, but dark clouds still covered the sky above. The smell of pine was probably the biggest relief either of them have had in years though.

"Well, do you have any idea what direction we're heading?" Marie raised her brow as she looked around without the camp in sight.

"I... I'm afraid not," Edd felt his cheeks warm up a little at having to admit that. "It's almost a new moon, so I can't really find it through these clouds. I know the camp would be east of here, but I just don't know which way is east."

Marie grumbled and pinched the bridge of her nose but nodded, "I suppose that can't be helped. What should we do tonight then?"

"Well, I personally think that sleep would be the best option," Edd shrugged and pocketed his flashlight. Although it may have been more of a selfish thought, he did notice that Marie seemed to move a little sluggishly.

She frowned a little in thought before nodding to him and falling down into her butt, "Maybe the clouds will clear up in the morning and we can find our way back."

Edd only nodded and collapsed beside her in suit, feeling his legs burn from how much he had been walking. 'To think, if I was in this situation only a few years ago, I'd be covered in lipstick, and I most certainly wouldn't be sleeping on the cold an dirty ground.' He smirked, thinking to himself before closing his eyes.

"Hey Edd?" He heard Marie talk to him before he managed to drift off.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about what I used to put you through," She commented idly before rolling over away from him, pressing her back up against his. "Sleep tight."

Edd nodded and closed his eyes, feeling too tired to even notice the warmth against him as he drifted off to have some of the strangest dreams he's ever had.

* * *

"Uhm... Edd?" Edd heard a voice call to him as he cuddled up against his book. He just wanted to swat it away so he could sleep in just a little longer. After all, he was only supposed to get up once his alarm went off. "Edd!"

He grumbled as his eyes snapped open to the bright morning sun, ready to reprimand whoever actually took the time to wake him up, but as his vision focused, he noticed two pale blue-gray eyes staring back at him.

"Edd, I'd hate to alarm you, but we have company," She whispered with a look of fear plastered on her face.

"What do you-" As he sat up, his question was answered before he even finished it. Right next to Marie was a rather large brown snake with several darker brown spots running down the length of its coiled body. "Is that a water moccasin?! This far north?" He almost yelled as the snake hissed, "O-Okay, don't make any sudden movements."

"You think?!" Marie growled at him, almost paralyzed with fear. Spiders she could handle, wild dogs? No problem, angry people? She'd just punch them... But snakes. To say that she hated snakes was an understatement; she was horrified of them if they were any bigger than a garter snake.

"Okay, just back away slowly..." Edd informed her, slowly crawling away from the aggravated serpent, which only snapped at them with a feign strike. "I think we got too close to somewhere we shouldn't have."

"What do you mean?" Marie cowered away from the snake, pushing Edd back with her.

"Something like.." His eyes widened as he noticed several smaller squirming snakes in a small crevice near their heads. "... Like that."

Marie's eyes widened as she let out a blood curdling scream, somehow hopping a good meter away while on all fours. "Oh god, oh god, oh god."

The grown snake hissed and lunged forward towards where Marie was, putting it right in the direction of Edd, thankfully coming short of biting him. Edd wanted to kill Marie at that moment for almost getting him bit, but his eyes stayed locked on the snake. Slowly, he moved his hands up to his head and did the unthinkable; he pulled off his hat and quickly lunged back at the snake, using it to cover the its head, causing it flailed wildly in response, but he managed to grab it by the neck, keeping the hat wrapped around it before tossing it into the brush. "Let's go, now!" He shouted and grabbed the dazed Marie's hand, pulling her in the exact opposite direction.

Marie could only watch in both amazement at what he had done, shock that he had taken off his hat, and a feeling of disgust at what was hidden underneath. Sure, his hair covered it pretty well, but she could still see the huge gash that ran across the side of his head. Her entire body almost quaked in sympathy and unease, but she still did her best to keep up with him.

"Edd, what was that?!" Marie finally shouted at him after they managed to stop running, both of which were panting like if they hadn't breathed the whole trip.

"I... I'm not sure; I just panicked because you were with me and were freaking out, so I just did the first thing I thought of," He explained frantically, his words were erratic and his breathing was heavy.

"And you didn't think you could've gotten bit?! We're miles from any real town, and a bite from a cottonmouth would've been a one-way ticket to having a lot shorter of a life!" She raised her hands, making a strangling motion to emphasize her anger.

"I would rather it be me than you," He glared at her, pulling out his can of soda and finally opening it, despite how hot it was.

"Why?!"

"Because maybe I'm too nice of a guy; I don't want anyone around me to get hurt, even if you _are _Marie Kanker," He half-shouted, causing her eyes to widen as the weight of what he said dropped down on her.

"So, you still just see me as Marie Kanker then... That girl that used to fuck with you and your friends when you were younger," Her face went deadpan as she dropped her bag off of her shoulder. "Because people can't change, can they? I mean, it's not like you became an asshole over the years or anything!"

"An asshole?! I just saved your life!" He stood up, not quite shouting, but he still had a stern tone in his voice.

"You also fucking hate me for something I stopped, apologized for, and came to terms with. You're the only one still holding this grudge; I mean, Eddy and Lee can talk and not yell, Ed and May are actually friends, but you and me? The one that actually stopped all interaction with you is the 'bad girl'," She growled, her voice raising more and more as her rant went on.

"Ever since you screamed at me and my sisters, you've become so _unhappy_! I mean, you don't even seem proud when you get on the honor roll anymore; I've even overheard Eddy and Ed talk about how you've changed. Did I make you _that _miserable that you can't even take joy in anything anymore?" Her voice suddenly softened, "Double D, did I really give you that bad of a time that you just stopped caring about your life?"

"It's not..." Edd suddenly grew quiet, his voice trembling a little at her words. Did he really start becoming unhappy after that? Is that why he and Sarah had so many issues? The realization sunk into him like a hot knife through butter... He really was unhappy with how everything turned out; he was distanced from Ed and Eddy, he broke a good relationship with Sarah, he was wanting to just abandon Peach Creek because of it... And so the question really started to nag him; 'Will I be happy even if I leave town?'

Marie only watched him as the internal conflict was sparked, and she could see it in his eyes how hard it was for him. His gaze was distant, almost as if he was staring back at the cul-de-sac and the entire past with it. Ed had at least let May down gently, and Eddy just talked it out with Lee... But Edd was the one that actually yelled. All of that time and rage just boiled up and eventually exploded into a rant of hatred and anger. "Are you crying?" She watched as two streams actually trailed down the front of Edd's face, and in that moment, her heart almost collapsed from the memories. "Edd..."

"You're right..." He murmured, dropping the can of soda he was holding. His heart was pounding and his head throbbed at the realization of just how spot on Marie really was. It was like he lost a piece of himself that day that he hadn't noticed was missing until it was pointed out. Eddy wasn't trying to hook him up with someone for 'high school' sake, he was trying to help him actually smile again. "How could I have been so stupid? Marie, I shouldn't have yelled at you..." His shoulders dropped as he looked back at that day. Nobody deserved to be told that they should die old and alone; not even Marie Kanker. "I-I'm so sorry..." He started to blubber, his entire body shaking.

His breath caught in his throat as he felt two arms wrap around his head, drawing him into the chest of the woman he loathed for so many years. The woman that deserved every second of it, and yet deserved none of it. Edd, for the first time in years, cried. Not just a tear or two, but true and constant tears that drowned Marie's shirt. "It's okay, Edd..." Marie murmured, realizing just how much she overstepped her bounds by saying that, but for the first time in years, she felt the warmth of another human being against her.

* * *

**Believe it or not, this is not the highlight of this story, so hang on tight. That being said, I know this chapter is significantly shorter than the last, but I felt like this was the right place to end it. Anyway, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Sand and Baths

It felt like an eternity of walking, although it had only been five minutes since they finally broke their embrace; with only the pitter-patter from the drops of moisture falling from the leaves with the blowing of the warm summer winds to keep them company. Edd could still feel the stains on his cheeks that his tears had left, along with that salty taste that made its home in the edges of his mouth.

Marie on the other hand, could still feel the lingering warmth against her, forcing a wayward smile onto her lips as if to signify the closure from their argument so long ago. Like her sisters, she had made peace with her past with her respective Ed, and as such, felt a sensation of calmness that not even a snake could interrupt. Although, for reasons not even known to her, she couldn't help but glance at that scar that marked her companion's scalp. Not once had she ever really thought about what could be underneath his hat, but now that an answer was given to a question not even asked, it was almost surreal to her.

"It's funny, when I was younger, I always dreamed of having these amazing adventures, but now that I'm older, I realize how boring this really is," Marie joked after a few more moments of silence, finally deciding to spark up a conversation after she felt the dust settle from earlier. "I mean, books make it out to be some kind of huge adventure, and it really makes me appreciate how they cut out all of the downtime that happens. Granted, I feel like if our life was a book, it would probably be one of the most boring stories ever written. I mean, maybe when we were younger it would've been funny, but now it's just parties, work, school, and sleep."

"It really does put things into perspective, doesn't it?" Edd nodded in agreement, pulling a Pringle out of the can and crunching down onto it. Although he was talking to her, he was still barely paying attention. In the matter of minutes, he went from being so sure of what he wanted to do with his life, down to complete confusion.

Marie raised her eyebrow, noticing that forlorn look plastered on his face. The trip was boring enough without having Edd being only halfway in reality. She waved her hand in front of his face, only to have no response. "Edd, seriously?" Her hand slapped against her forehead.

"Fine, you leave me no choice..." Her face turned dead serious as she shoved her hand against his side, "Tag, you're it!"

"Huh?" He almost fell over at the unexpected push, having what she said sink in only after she was already meters ahead of him. "But I-" He didn't even finish when he realized what she was doing. With a smile on his lips, he decided to play along and follow after her... Albeit at easily half of her speed. 'Childish, aren't we?' He only shook his head, feeling a bit better with the lighthearted mood.

Despite her blue hair, she somehow managed to shake Edd off. 'That's more like it, Edd,' She thought to herself and let out a soft giggle, peering out from behind her tree. At first she thought he was just going to think she was acting stupid, but actually having him chase after her had proved otherwise. After a minute of watching him aimlessly wander for her and calling her name, she decided to wave him down, "Hey Edd, over here!" She smiled and tried to turn to meet him halfway. "I.. Ed, I'm stuck."

Marie looked down to notice the ground was buried halfway up her shins, taking a moment for her to realize just what she was stuck in, "Let go of me, god damn it!" She screamed this time around, feeling her heart start to race.

"What's happening?" Edd called out to her as he ran up, faster than she even realized he could run. "Quicksand?" His eyes widened as he watched her sit knee deep in the mud, but she wasn't squirming at all. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think? I don't want to die!" She gasped and uneasily played with her fingers, trying to keep herself from going into a full on panic attack.

"You'll only sink faster if you panic, Marie," The moment he scolded her, she froze up, but the look of fear plastered itself onto her face. "Now calm down, it's a myth that you'll sink underneath. Most quicksand pits are only a few feet deep, so as long as you stay calm, you'll be okay."

"But what if it's not? What if it _is_ deep enough?" She looked up at him with her visible eye watering slightly. It wasn't often that she ran into a problem that brute strength wouldn't solve, and while she knew not to struggle against quicksand, she still had no idea how to escape it.

"I promise it's not deep enough," He reassured her, trying to keep her calm.

"How can you be so sure?!" She half-screamed in both fear and anger, but she took a gasp as she felt him grab her muddy hand and jump into the pit with her. "What are you doing?!"

"Helping you get out," He frowned wryly and squeezed her hand, "Just do what I do and follow me." With that, he lead by example, wiggling his left leg slowly, loosening up the dirt around him before sliding it out and taking a step forward before doing the same with his right leg.

Marie watched in shock at how easy he made it seem, but she did as she was told and pulled her left leg out in the same manner, followed by the right. A slight smile appeared on her face as she felt a little calmer now that she knew how to escape. "How do you know how to do this?" She asked with a wavering voice, although she was admittedly calmer than before.

"A long story; Ed and Eddy played this prank on me a few years back where they pretended to be stuck in quicksand, and after I got home, I studied ways out just in case," He shrugged and tugged lightly at her hand when he heard the fear still in her voice.

"Really? That's a pretty shitty prank," She deadpanned at the story, but felt a little relief as Edd actually put one of his feet onto solid land. "We're already almost out?" She asked before having her leg snag on the sand again, falling face first into the mud.

"Marie!" He shouted louder than he realized and let go of her hand to help scoop the mud away from her head, but the moment he separated from her, she began to flail in absolute terror.

'Oh god, oh god, oh god, I don't want to die here!' She screamed at herself in her head. There was so much she had to do with her life, and yet she could see the end of the line right in front of her. She could hear Edd shouting at her to stop, but her fear kept her from complying completely, although she did try to flail a little less at the very least. Her lungs started to burn as they started to beg for a breath of air, but just as she started to feel a little dizzy, the bright sunlight awoke her from her daze before she collapsed, taking in a deep breath of air.

"See? I promised," Edd said, to which she could head the vibrations of his voice in her ear, causing her face to flush when she realized she was laying against his chest.

"I... Thank you, Edd," She jumped up, feeling uneasy being so close to him. She offered him a nervous smile before standing up and offering her his hand. "Shall we?"

'What was that?' Edd stared up at the sky for a moment, feeling his heart pound in his throat from even that momentary touch. He only pondered it for a moment before taking Marie's hand and letting her help him up. "Filthy, filthy, filthy..." He grumbled to himself when he noticed how coated in mud he really was.

"What was that?" Marie asked as they started heading back towards camp yet again..

"Oh, nothing," He said sharply, not really wanting to admit that his neurosis was getting worse at a time like this.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Marie?" Lee called out as she wandered throughout camp in search for her sister. Last night was an interesting time for the eldest Kanker, but she awoke in her tent without Marie in sight.

"The blue-haired one?" Rolf asked as he worked on cleaning the mugs from last night. "She went to the pit of food last night, saying how she wanted to meet people."

"Wait, she actually listened to me?" Rolf could see the shock in Lee's eyes, even through her hair.

"Hey, Rolfy boy, have you seen sockhead anywhere?" Eddy asked as he walked up to the bar.

"Why does everyone ask the son of a shepherd about such things? No, the Double D Ed boy disappeared last night after you went after the Stanford girl," Rolf let out an annoyed huff. All morning, everyone had come to him with questions because he was the bartender, and these last two questions were no exceptions.

"So, the sockhead's missing too?" Lee raised her brow with a sly grin appearing on her face, "I can't find Marie anywhere either."

"So what? I haven't seen your no-good sister any-" Eddy's eyes widened at what exactly the elder Kanker was insinuating. His mouth slowly opened and closed, reminiscent of a fish, "I don't think they're doing what you think they're doing."

"I never said what I was thinking, it's just that I told her to find herself a man last night..." Lee suggested.

"So? Like Double D would ever-" He paused as what he also told him last night had dawned on him. "E-Even if I told him to get a girl, I doubt he'd have _that _low of standards since Sarah."

"'Ey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Lee hissed, getting a little angry now.

"You know what it means, Kanker," Eddy glared back at her.

"Plank says he knows where they are!" Johnny suddenly sat up from where he had been laying presumably all night. "Plank says they went into the same cave together!"

"Wait, there's no way he actually..." Eddy's anger died down and became more confusion than anything. He didn't really expect Edd to follow his advice, and he certainly didn't expect him to follow it and go after _Marie Kanker_ of all people.

"You mean she actually went after a boy? But her and the sockhead hate each other!" Lee was just as confused, having mixed feelings of her sister going after her childhood crush after he yelled at her like that. Lee and May literally had to comfort her for months after the things he said.

"When I get my hands on him..." Eddy grumbled and grabbed Johnny's shirt, "Where did he go, melonhead?"

"Plank says the cave's thattaway," Johnny replied and pointed away from the camp.

"I'm coming to give that girl a piece of my mind," Lee grumbled and followed Eddy in her own fit of confusion and anger.

* * *

"The first thing I'm going to do when we get back to camp is go to the hot springs. I just want to be clean and never stop ever again," Edd grumbled, having his shoulders droop a bit in eagerness. There was only one time in his memory that he had ever been more filthy than what he was now, and that was years ago.

"They have hot springs here?" Marie looked over at Edd and stuffed her hands into her pockets as they walked. Despite liking to pretend she had no interest in such things, she always wanted to try one.

"Oh yes, the brochure said where Wishspring is on top of an old volcano, there tends to be a lot of hot springs in addition to a few geysers," Edd explained with an excited look appearing on his face. "Apparently there's actually a bathhouse not too far from camp that actually has maintained hot springs for campers."

"I... I think I may go; ya know, just to wash off the mud," She nodded, pretending not to really have any interest in them.

"I would love to run some tests on the water and compare it to other hot springs I have been to," Edd poked his tongue through the gap in his teeth excitedly.

"Tests? What on earth would you expect to find?" She deadpanned in contrast to his excitement. "I mean, water is water."

"Oh no, different hot springs may have different minerals, temperatures, and who knows what else; I want to just compare for my own records. After all, then I can know where the best hot springs really are," Edd explained, waving his hands as he spoke, as if it would emphasize what he was saying.

"Dork," Marie rolled her eyes and playfully punched him on the arm.

"Ow," Edd mumbled to himself and rubbed it painfully. Before he could complain, he noticed the tents ahead of them, to which he found he could only smile, "Ahah! Sweet, warm bath, here I come."

Marie smirked, "Race you!" With that, she took off towards the camp, leaving the confused Edd in her dust. After a brief moment, he reacted and started after her.

Needless to say, Marie completely beat him without even so much as breaking a sweat, while Edd was gasping for air by the time he arrived. She only watched him in a mixed sense of pity and humor as he took a whole five minutes to catch his breath, "Wow, you are _really _out of shape, Double D."

"Oh, ha. ha. I prefer to think of myself as a scientist, not a brute," He countered.

"Yeah, and I'm a scholar... That actually works out," She deadpanned again, to which Edd blushed a little as his usual excuse was thrown back into his face. "Come on, 'scientist', lets go find the hot springs."

"Y-Yeah, I'm going to go grab my spare clothes though," Edd smirked a little and headed back to his tent.

"Yeah, I suppose I probably should do that," She mumbled and looked down at her clothes, which were coated in mud and grass stains. "... And my medicine, right," She remembered that she had brought that with her, and silently thanked god that she made it back before she started having too many symptoms.

* * *

"There is no way that you really do wear the same outfit everyday," Marie was taken aback by the fact that Edd was holding the exact same style of red shirt and blue jeans that he seemed to wear nearly every time she saw him. Marie, on the other hand, was carrying green cargo pants and a white motorhead tank top.

"What? I'm a man of habit," Edd rubbed the back of his head, ecstatic to finally be wearing a hat again. Thankfully he had avoided most of the campers until he grabbed his spare, so nobody really knew about the scar still.

"You're a something alright," She rolled her eyes and giggled a little. "Let's just get cleaned up already."

"Yeah, yeah, did you bring any money?" Edd asked as he reached to pull out his wallet.

"Wait, you have to pay?" Marie blushed a little and shook her head, "I-I just kind of figured it was part of the camping experience..."

"Yeah, the brochure said is was $8.50 to get in," Edd shrugged and pulled out his card, walking up to the cashier, "Go on in, I'll pay for yours and you can pay me back later."

Marie made a wry expression before nodding, "Fine." With that, she walked off into the building.

"Cute couple," She commented as she swiped the card, "You want a receipt?"

Edd's cheeks lit up a bright red at her comment before he fervently shook his head, "We aren't.. I mean, we're just friends!"

The cashier stared for a moment before giving him a knowing look that even Edd probably didn't realize what it was about, "What? I just kind of assumed because- Nevermind." She said and handed him the card and receipt back.

"I.. Yeah, thank you," Edd nodded and walked into the bathhouse with a look of shock plastered onto his face.

He let out a soft, but shaky sigh as he undressed and rinsed off in the shower. While the water was relatively cold, it only made him more excited for the actual hot spring. The best part was that he knew how the kids at Peach Creek High were; chances are, none of them read the brochure, and so none of them probably knew about the hot springs other than who he had told. Granted, there were a couple of other book nerds, but at least that would give him someone to talk to while he relaxed.

Wrapping the towel around his waist as he walked outside into the hot spring area, he slid right in with a wide, relaxed grin. Right as he closed his eyes and tried to lose himself, he heard a voice call out, "Who's there?" To which his blood froze up.

The voice wasn't one of his nerdy friends, or even that of a man... It was most certainly a female voice. His eyes snapped open as he peered through the mist and saw something that almost made him yelp in shock...

Marie was squinting as she looked around the hot spring, as if she couldn't see anything, but that's not what he was in shock from. He noticed a certain part of her exposed above the water; or rather, two certain round objects. 'Oh god, did I just walk into the wrong bath?!' His entire body was frozen in horror, as well as some other mixed feelings. This was literally the first time he's ever actually seen a woman's breasts in person, and to make it worse, it was those of his childhood tormenter.

He noticed her lock eyes with him, causing him to freeze up, but she waved kindly, "Oh, hi there! Sorry, you just scared me, I didn't think there would be anyone else in here. Sorry if I don't recognize you, I had to take my contacts out."

Edd silently thanked the god that he didn't believe in that she was blind right now, but he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to clean up, but he also didn't exactly see that co-ed bathhouse sign outside that so proudly sat in his vision now.

'Okay Eddward, make a choice... Be truthful, or just get out and run,' He thought to himself thoroughly, and decided that he would take plan B and flee while she was still unawares.

"I.. Edd?" During his time that he was thinking on what to do, Marie had actually come close enough to see who exactly was enjoying the bath with her, and to say her face was upset would be an understatement. Her face was absolutely apathetic for a brief moment, giving Edd enough time to try and explain.

"I-I didn't realize this was a coed bathhouse?" He said and slowly started to scoot away with horror plastered onto his face.

"Oh no, I just assumed you knew and decided to become a pervert on me because of how we actually started getting along. Oh, Double D... It's okay, just let me help you get comfortable..." A look of pure hatred appeared on her face, to which the screams from the first hit alone were loud enough to be heard from all of the way back at camp.

* * *

**Okay, a bit of a more comedic bit before things start getting serious. I personally liked this one at the end a little, but anyway, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Chinese Checkers Mark I

**Okay, so I did get a comment pointing out that I wasn't giving too much love to the others at camp. Which, there is a bit of reason for that; mostly because I was wanting to write multiple side stories involving some of the other characters a bit more in depth. Although this story will hint at a lot of those side stories. After all, if I crammed it all of the subplots into one story, it would feel disorganized and chaotic at best.**

** But yeah, I hope you all enjoy; I know it's a bit drab of a chapter compared to the other chapters, but it's hard to make filler all too interesting. It's about to pick up pace pretty fast though after this chapter, so do try and forgive me :P**

* * *

"Geeze, you didn't think to look to see if it was coed?" Marie quietly scolded Edd as she worked on bandaging a few of the battle scars she had given him from the event. Edd on the other hand was just sitting there with a dazed look on his face, trying to overcome the stinging from beneath the icepack on his cheek.

"Because who would think of setting up a coed hotspring at a place frequented by _high schoolers_?" Edd shook his head, having mixed feelings about what had happened that morning. Marie was in her rights to beat him like she did, but he still wasn't exactly fond of her for doing it. It wasn't until after he looked like a Picasso piece that he finally had a chance to explain, and by then, he was too in pain to rationally do so.

"Maybe that's _why _they did it," Marie jerked a little as Edd yelped in pain. "Quit being a baby, we need to clean the wounds." She rolled her eyes and continued to dab the peroxide against the cuts her ring had made on him.

"I know, but it's still tender," Edd complained, but couldn't take his eyes off of Marie's face. It was strange to see her in glasses; apparently she wore contacts all of this time, but due to the whole fight at the bathhouse, she had lost them somewhere. The black frames actually served to really emphasize just how blue her eyes really were; their color was a small feature, but one that Edd actually had never really paid attention to before now.

"It's probably going to be for a while too. I did a number on you for that little stunt," Marie teased, to which Edd only deadpanned at.

"Sockhead, I have to talk to you!" They both turned their head at that voice, to which they both felt a sinking feeling of panic in their stomachs at who they had seen.

"Marie, what the hell are you thinkin'?" Lee looked just as angry as she approached the two.

"About?" Marie tried to say, but was literally dragged off by her sister, to which she barely put up a struggle. She knew exactly what Lee was upset about, and so she just decided to try and explain everything... With force if necessary.

* * *

"Double D, what are you thinking?!" Eddy half-shouted at Edd, almost hysterical about what he had just witnessed. "When I told you to get a girl, I didn't mean for you to go directly to the one girl that you shouldn't! I mean, after what you told her, I have no idea how you even got her to speak to you again. Even if you did manage it, she's still a _Kanker_! Did you forget what we promised each other?"

"It's not like that, Eddy," Edd lowered his head a little, pulling down the red beanie he was wearing to replace the one he lost. "We got trapped in a landslide and had to find our way out."

"Yeah, I saw the cave. You had m-... Ed worried. Why were you even in there with her in the first place?" Eddy's face softened a little, but he still wore a wry frown as he awaited a proper explanation.

"We were just reading..." Edd tried to explain, only to have Eddy's disapproving look wear away at him. "Basically I went out there to have alone time, and she showed up with the same idea, and then we heard someone scream for help last night in the rain, and when we went to check, there was a landslide that trapped us in the cave."

"Scream for help?" Eddy raised his brow a little, "I mean, we all heard it, but I didn't realize that's where it came from."

"Yeah, it looked like Clara Vauo and some football jock," Edd shrugged, trying to change the subject to _anything _else.

"That explains why Clara's truck disappeared... God, I fucking hate the football team; especially if they did some underhanded shit with that girl. Hell, she has enough trouble with her mom as is, let alone if they did anything to her," Eddy grimaced at the thought. Clara was considered the 'poor kid' at school, having a single mother with only one part time job that liked to pretend Clara didn't really exist. There were worse lives out there, but she certainly wasn't living life as a popular kid.

"Yeah, but if her car's gone, then hopefully she at least notifies the police," Edd added, feeling glad at the change of topic, but at the same time, a little worried for the girl.

"Whatever, we have some bigger fish to fry right now; all I'm going to say is that you shouldn't go after Marie. One, you promised me and Ed. Two, she's _Marie Kanker_! Three, you can do so much better," Eddy rolled his eyes and jumped right back onto their previous conversation.

"Me and her didn't even do anything though! We just found another way out of the cave and spent some time in the woods together," Edd huffed and crossed his arms.

"Look, I'm glad you're okay from the whole landslide incident, but I'm just saying that being caught so close to her couldn't have been good for your mind," Eddy said, tapping his finger against Edd's forehead. "The Kankers have always been good at getting in your head, I just don't want to see you go back to that dark place again."

"But Ed can be friends with May?" Edd raised his brow with a hint of anger edging in his voice.

"Ed didn't cuss May out for an hour," Eddy shot back sharply. "Besides, he's just that: Friends."

"That's all Marie and I are," Edd frowned wryly and shook his head. "I promise it's nothing more, I mean, we aren't even _really_ friends or anything... More like two people who were trapped in a circumstance and had to talk with one another."

"Yeah, that's called friends," Eddy rolled his eyes and smirked. "Well, since it's already in the past, if you've already done it with her, I want details. How far did you two go? Did you see her tits?"

"What happened to your kiss and tell policy?" Edd snarked, knowing that Eddy just joking now.

"It's _my _kiss and tell policy, nobody else has to live by it," Eddy grinned back and gave Edd a pat on the back. "Let's get you a few drinks; you'll be telling me everything by the end of the night."

* * *

"Double D, _really_ Marie?!" Lee was laying into her sister with the verbal ferocity of a whip. To say she was angry would be an understatement. "I'm glad you're okay after the whole landslide thing, but _what the hell_?! He made you cry for a fucking year after what he had said! Don't you remember what you did after that, too?!"

Marie lowered her head at the verbal lashing from her sisters, hearing May chime in as well, "Marie, you're supposed to hate him... I don't want to see you do anything dumb again..."

"I'm not! Look, we just got trapped in that cave and had to talk to each other. Hell, I'm over it, it's like you all are more upset than me at what he said!" Marie glared at her sisters, understanding why they were upset, but angry at how they were trying to get that point across.

"Of course we are! We were the ones that had to try and comfort you; I mean, I don't want to see you go through something like that again, sis," Lee frowned and hugged Marie close too her. "Look, I'm happy you talked to a guy finally, but that's not really what I had in mind. I'm just saying that I you can't get obsessed with him again; I refuse to see it end worse than what it had last time."

"I know you care, Lee, and you too, May, but I promise you it's not like that. We're just talking, and _maybe _becoming friends," Marie grumbled in her sister's embrace, but relaxed into it no less.

"Look, I'm glad you're happy and crap, but please, please, _please _don't let your guard down. Especially if he suddenly decides he wants you as his girlfriend; I mean, fuck, after what he said, you shouldn't be giving him the time of day," Lee growled angrily in return, but let go of her sister with a slight smirk. "Just be careful, okay?"

Marie nodded a little and offered her sister a smile, "Fine."

"Hey, I heard from Ed that there's going to be a weird drinking game tonight, we should totally play!" May piped in, changing the subject to alleviate some of the tension that hung heavily in the air.

"A game?" Both of the elder sisters looked over curiously at her.

* * *

"Chinese checkers... with shots?" Marie watched with a deadpan stare at what was unfolding in front of her. There was a large round table with crude circled drawn on it in the shape of a 6 pointed star, with each point filled with shot glasses of different colors.

"Yeah! Me and Nazz came up with it, and everyone thought it would be funny. They're playing with Evil Tims, so nobody's going to want to take a drink," May laughed a little after explaining. Nazz and she had actually become pretty close friends after they started high school, especially where they were both on the softball team.

"Well, it's interesting, I'll give you that," Lee chuckled a little and shook her head, "Hey, I'm going to go have a smoke and then come play."

As Marie watched her sister walk off, she could only roll her eyes and look back at May, "I wish she'd stop smoking that shit. I swear it's gonna melt her brain. Anyway though, so why's everyone paired in twos?"

"Because Evil Tims taste like death," May joked. "Where it's a drinking game, we decided to do teams of two to help with the whole getting wasted while playing chinese checkers."

"Ah... Sounds interesting at least," Marie shook her head before spying a certain someone sitting at the bar across from Rolf. She grinned and walked off from her sister and sat down next to him, "I'll have what he's having." Behind her, she could hear May call her name, but she honestly wasn't too interested in taking shots anyway.

"Ah, blue-haired Kanker girl! Double D Ed boy was just telling me about what happened. It reminds me of when Nana was trapped in Victor's cage," Rolf laughed and pour her a mug of mead as well, sitting it onto the table in front of her.

"Thanks, Rolf," Marie smiled a little at his story, but turned her attention to Edd. "Hey, I wanted to thank you for saving me out there... Not once, but twice."

Edd turned and smiled at her, he was clearly more than just a little buzzed from his flushed cheeks and dazed look, "It's no problem, I just did what was right."

Marie laughed a little, 'Even when drunk, he still talks to proper.' She gave him a strong pat on the back. "Now, with that pansy stuff out of the way, how much have you been drinking?"

"Huh? Oh, the other ed-boy was having drinks with him before the Stanford girl came by," Rolf explained and refilled Edd's mug with more mead.

Edd nodded in agreement and took another drink of the mead. While yes, he abhorred getting drunk, if he actually managed to, he would not stop drinking. Eddy knows this, so no doubt he had him take a couple shots to loosen him up to the party. After all, they would be returning back to Peach Creek tomorrow, so it would probably be the only chance to actually get him to enjoy himself and not be trapped out in the woods with Marie.

"Hey, we need another team for Checkers," Kevin walked up and signaled with his thumb towards the table. "You two want in?"

"Huh? No I don-" She trailed off when she noticed Edd give him a thumbs up.

"Sounds fun to me!" He grinned cockily and took Marie's hand, "Let's go have some fun!"

Marie only stared on in awe for a moment before feeling the tugging of Edd as he walked off towards the table. With a smile appearing on her face, she decided to go along with it. After all, Edd was notoriously good at chess, so maybe it would transfer over into chinese checkers as well.

Well, her assumption wasn't too off, but she was still downing her third Evil Tim of the night. Despite the horrific taste, she actually liked how she couldn't even feel the alcohol burn her throat as it went down. That was honestly the biggest thing she hated about alcohol usually, so being spared from that had made the game a bit more tolerable.

"Gotcha! Drink up, Eddy," Edd smirked arrogantly, having just taking out Eddy and Marie Stanford's last shot glass. Although Eddy had been giving him pretty dirty looks for being on a team with the middle Kanker, neither of the two were sober enough to even notice at this point. Marie only sighed and ran her fingers through her blue hair with a cocky smirk of her own. Once she learned the rules of the game, she started to completely destroy the enemy teams with the help of the inebriated Edd.

Eddy grumbled and took the shot, leaning against his date, who was laughing as she hugged him around the neck. He had decided to be 'a man' and drink most of her shots for her as well, which had left her sober enough to play at least... Although she was absolutely horrible at the game either way. Marie Stanford leaned down and whispered something into his ear before they both sauntered off towards the tents.

"Hah, so it's just you and me, Edd," Kevin smirked as he looked over at May, who gave him a reaffirming nod. With a quick movement, he took out 3 of Edd's shot glasses with a confident grin on his face. "Drink up!"

Edd only laughed as he downed two of the three shots, falling against the table in a drunken delirium. Marie frowned wryly and took her shot before leaning down to check on Edd, "Wow, he's out of it. Yeah, I think this is the point where we forfeit."

"Oh come on, really?" Kevin grinned wryly, "Fine, get him some water and to bed. I think he's probably had enough."

May nodded and walked over to her sister, whispering into her ear, "Be careful." With those two words, she returned to Kevin's side and tugged at his hand, mouthing something to them before they both went off to their own tents.

Marie only watched as she was abandoned with a dazed Edd, who was practically snoring as he lay against the table. She could only giggle a little, but shook her head and helped him up from his chair, carrying him off towards his tent again.

"God, you really can't handle your booze," She sighed and laid him onto his side, halfway zipping the sleeping bag around his knees. Honestly though, it was a surprise to actually see him drink like that anyway, let alone to the point where he passed out. She noticed that he was getting dazed a few shots back, but it was unexpected at how fast he just caved.

He only snuggled up against his pillow, silently breathing as he slept. Considering how harsh the night had been for him though, she decided to sit around for a little while to make sure he didn't get sick. It was going to be a long night ahead of her, knowing that anyone that downed that much soy sauce and alcohol was bound to vomit at least once.

* * *

**Okay, a shorter one, but there's not really much to tell in this chapter. Things are about to get pretty interesting though, so just hang tight and get ready. So yeah, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	6. Chapter 5 - Friends?

Sunday had passed by without any real event. The campers had to nurse their hangovers while they packed up for their return to Peach Creek; some students came back as a couple, while others came back broken up. Edd though? He came back with probably the worst headache he's ever had. He and Eddy were so sick that they had to let Ed drive the van.

When Monday morning rolled around, Edd woke up to his usual alarm that echoed throughout the stillness that was his house. As per the usual, he sat up and stretched before heading towards his closet to decide his outfit for the day. Settling on a red t-shirt and dark blue jeans, he turned towards his hats only to find that his favorite was still missing.

"Right, the snake," He grumbled a little and decided on a red beanie that he wore when the other one was in the wash. It was almost as if something so small had changed the rest of his morning; his breakfast involved bacon and eggs instead of the usual bowl of Chunky Puffs, and his parents hadn't left any pre-school chores for him to perform. Even the commute to school seemed different; he noticed kids running around and playing as they waited for their buses.

Even the road felt more lively than what he remembered. The people seemed to be actually driving, rather than when they felt like cardboard cutouts that only obstructed him on the way to school. Maybe the camping trip really was just what he needed. The world that was once stagnant and uneventful had suddenly become living and ever-changing. He even noticed the simple gestures of holding doors open for others as they walked into stores.

That's when Marie's words returned to the back of his mind, like an itch just out of his reach: _Ever since you screamed at me and my sisters, you've become so unhappy! I mean, you don't even seem proud when you get on the honor roll anymore; I've even overheard Eddy and Ed talk about how you've changed._

"Was I really that unhappy...?" He murmured thoughtfully as he pulled into the school parking lot. Although he would normally be preparing himself for the day ahead, those simple few sentences nagged away at him. Being trapped in that cave with Marie had done more than just ignite an old fear, but it had rekindled something that he had lost. He felt human again; like the entire town was something more than just a nuisance holding him back.

"Hey, Double D, what are ya starin' at?" Eddy called out from behind him, pulling Edd from his daze to turn and see his friends. "Jeeze, did I scare you or something?" He laughed, giving Edd a pat on the back.

"Yeah, Double D, you looked like me after I got my tooth pulled," Ed nodded in agreement, digging up the memory of that old video Eddy had taken. Ed was dazed from the numbing medication they had him on, so he walked around for a week in a stupor.

"I was just thinking; maybe that camping trip really was good for me, I feel more alive now than I have in a long time," Edd explained and started heading towards the entrance of the school with his friends.

"Well, that's what I was hoping would happen. I don't mean to be mean, but you've been kind of a drag lately," Eddy agreed and walked into the school. He had noticed just how depressed Edd was getting; which the fact that Edd himself hadn't noticed had made it all the worse.

"Guys, it's biscuits and gravy day in the cafeteria!" Ed suddenly shouted and pointed at the sign on the cafeteria door. The big guy was pretty much unstoppable when it came to his favorite breakfast. There was one time that he spent all of his savings on extra biscuits and gravy. It was so bad that Eddy and Edd had to actually limit how much money he could bring to school.

"So, about the junior-senior prom, guys... Who the hell are you all taking?" Eddy asked after the three friends had taken a seat at their usual table. Ed, as was expected, had bought five extra biscuits and an extra three helpings of gravy, to which he gave Eddy and Edd the extra sausage that came with it. For being such a big guy, Ed actually didn't eat meat all too much. Not that he was against it, but he was surprisingly picky about it.

"Me? I doubt I'm going," Edd shrugged and poked at his own breakfast, taking a small bite from it. He wasn't all too hungry, but he decided to at least get some milk, juice, and an apple for energy.

"I wanted you to get someone over the weekend, but instead you become all buddy buddy with Marie," Eddy rolled his eyes and turned to Ed, "What about you, Lumpy?"

Ed just shook his head and mumbled something incomprehensible past the mouthful of gravy and biscuits. Eddy rolled his eyes and sighed, "Looks like we're all dateless than. Marie dumped my ass for some jock."

Edd looked over at him, confused for a moment before realizing that he was talking about Marie Stanford. "Really? You two looked pretty happy on Saturday."

"Yeah, after we went to her tent, she ended up dumping me because I 'wasn't what she was looking for'," He moved his hand, as if to imitate her mouth saying the words. "It's whatever, I'll just ask some other girl."

Edd chuckled a little at his friend's unbreakable ego. Even after being in and out of relationships so often, he still kept going for more girls. Apparently he had some kind of bet with his brother that he could have more sex than him by the time high school was over. It was one of those bets that neither Edd nor Ed really cared to keep track of.

"Well, gentlemen, we should be getting to class," Edd stated as the warning bell went off, informing the cafeteria that breakfast was over. With that, they said their goodbyes and went off to their respective first period classes.

* * *

The first two periods Edd went to were nothing more than the teachers basically saying that it was a free period. Peach Creek was pretty notorious for that; after the tests were finished, there really wasn't any reason to continue teaching anything, so the teachers either let you talk, or would give you pointless busy work. Third period though, was Edd's favorite: Chemistry.

"Alright guys, I asked what all you wanted to do for the last three weeks, and you all pretty much said you wanted to do lab experiments, so that's what we're going to do," Edward Fletcher was one of the younger teachers at school, and was one of those teachers that all of the girls crushed over. He was relaxed, fun-loving, and intelligent. "So, I was thinking we'll just do the different experiments that I delayed earlier in the year. The first one will be a fun one; we're going to play with fire. Basically, we're going to test the properties of various metals, such as magnetism and what color each one burns. So, what we're going to do is put you in groups of two, then we'll get started. So, get with your partner and meet me in the lab room."

With that, he opened the door in the back of his class and walked in. That was one of the best perks of Fletcher's class; it was connected to the science lab. Students scrambled to find their partner, to which Edd was a little dismayed at what he had seen. Normally he would pair himself up with Sam, but with his absence, the only other person available sat right across the class with a sly grin on her face.

"Well, I guess we're partners, Marie?" He asked cautiously as he approached her. While they were on speaking terms again after all of these years, Edd still felt a certain uneasiness around her now that the camping trip was over.

"Hm?" She looked up at him from a distracted daze, taking a moment to let what he asked sink in before nodding. "Oh, yeah, I suppose we are. Lauren's absent, so my usual partner's gone."

"Alright, so we have five metal wires, five cubes, and some burners. So, for this experiment, you need to wear these," He signaled towards his safety glasses and gloves. "Basically, we're going to do two things with these. We're going to burn the wire and take notes on the color of it, and then we're going to test how magnetic they are. So, get your safety gear and find a station with your partner."

Edd shook his head, already knowing the answers to what they were doing, but enjoyed the idea of an actual lab project for once. Fletcher was known to be pretty much by the books until the end of each nine weeks, and then he throws in whatever the class wants to do for fun. Where this was an AP class too, chances are that most of the class already knew the outcome of what they were doing.

"Alright, so do you want to burn the metals while I take notes, or vice versa?" Edd asked, pulling out his notebook and writing their names on the top of the paper, followed by the date and class period.

"Burn them, duh," Marie said playfully with a smirk on her face. Edd figured that's what she would rather do, but he thought he'd ask just in case.

"Alright, ready whenever you are. Speaking of, I was thin-"

"Shut up," Marie murmured.

"Excuse me?" Edd took a step back, feeling a little defensive.

"Huh? Oh no, not you, sorry," Marie shook her head and turned the Bunsen Burner on, adjusting the flame to what the instructions on the paper say. With that, she placed the tip of the copper wire into the flame, watching it glow a dull green.

Edd just watched her for a moment, confused as to what had just happened. Then he heard what she was talking about; Roger Dunkin was hollering on the other side at seeing what colors they made when all five were burnt at once.

"You okay, Double D?" Marie pulled his attention out of his thoughts, which he noticed her with a perplexed expression on her face. "You were staring at me awfully hard there."

"Huh? Oh no, forgive me... I was just thinking," He said and rubbed the back of his head gently. "So, what color did the copper burn?"

"Come on, Double D, you know what color copper burns," Marie rolled her eyes. "We're just doing this for fun busy work and you know it."

"Yeah, I suppose so..." He replied and jotted down how it burnt green.

"By the way, did you ever get your hat back?" Marie asked as she burnt a piece of aluminum now.

"No, sadly... I guess that snake will look pretty stylish now though," Edd joked and chuckled a little before seeing a strange look on his partner's face.

"Did you just make a joke?"

"I..." He blinked for a moment, taking a second to realize what she had meant by that. Ever since that incident between them, he really had become pretty serious of a guy now that he thought about it. "You're right, I guess I did."

"Wow, that camping trip changed you _a lot_," Marie giggled a little and dropped the burned wire onto the plate. "Keep it up and you might actually start to scare me."

"Well, we wouldn't want that, would we?" Edd chuckled and wrote down white on the paper for the aluminum without even having to see the flame as it burnt.

"I think it's more of a silver color, actually," Marie commented, looking over his shoulder.

"No way, that's clearly white," He deadpanned.

"Yeah, if you're color blind," Marie quipped, giving him a glare in return.

"What if you were the one that's color blind?" He questioned back.

"Unlikely, color blindness is more common in men, Double D," She smirked and slipped the paper and pen from his hand, scribbling out his observation with her own.

He grimaced a little, feeling a little worried about his vision now from her words, but then both of them just laughed a little at each other. It was a simple conversation, but it was one that had a certain lightheartedness to it that helped to ease the lingering tension between them. Both of them felt a little bit better after having a good laugh though.

"So, I have a question," Marie commented before turning and burning another wire.

"Hm? Like what?" Edd asked and jotted down the color of the flame.

"So, May told me that her and Ed were going to hang out a the arcade tonight after school, and she invited me. I dunno, I was just wondering if you wanted to go and chill with us or something; we're probably gonna rent a couple movies and grab some pizza too," Marie suggested idly, feeling a little uneasy already asking her newly acquired... friend? To hang out with her tonight; although, she wouldn't have done it if Ed wasn't going to be there.

"Tonight? Like a date?" Edd joked, but swallowed those words from the glare that Marie shot him. "I-I was kidding. Honestly, I was just going to go home and do homework..." He started to come up with an excuse before realizing something. 'Why am I so hesitant? I mean, Ed's going to be there too, so maybe it'll be a good chance to actually make amends with her,' He nodded at his conclusion and spoke up again, "But, I suppose I can do it later. Which arcade are we going to meet up at?"

A smile stretched across Marie's face, "Well, it's the nickelcade in Strawberry Falls, we were just going to chill there for a little while and probably go to Ed's house for the movies."

"Sounds like a date to me," Edd nodded with a smile, which faded the moment that look came back up on Marie's face, "... Not a date, you know what I mean!" He waved his hands nervously in an attempt to explain, only to get a laugh from the Kanker who decided to tease him for the rest of the class because of his word choice.

* * *

Marie sauntered into her room and grabbed her medication off of her dresser, taking one of the pills and drinking it down with water. Once again, she almost missed her dosage with her forgetfulness. "Huh, I'm almost out," She said as she shook the bottle to see only four more pills sitting at the bottom of it. "I should probably tell mom next time I see her."

She stripped off her clothes and started digging through her closet for something to wear. For some reason, her school clothes just felt filthy to walk around in around the mall. Although it took her about half an hour, she decided on a black tank top and white windbreakers with two black stripes running down each leg. Normally she wore this kind of thing when she went jogging, but it just felt kind of right for some reason.

"Hey Marie, are you ready yet?" May walked into the room, peeking around the door frame at her sister. "Big Ed waiting for us there."

"That reminds me, is it okay if I invited Double D? I mean, since Ed is going and... yeah," Marie just remembered that she hadn't actually asked her sister, but May only raised a curious brow.

"You're not getting back into him again, are you?" May inquired with a hint of warning in her voice. Although she wasn't the brightest of the Kankers, she knew good and well that going after Edd again would be a horrible idea.

"No, no, no! It's nothing like that; like, I just want to be friends and put all of that behind us," Marie explained, hitting her sister in the arm with a playful punch. "Besides, you know if he tries anything, I'll pummel him."

"Yeah, and if you don't, than Lee will," May giggled and rubbed her arm. "Come on, let's just go already."

Marie shook her head and grabbed her car keys and wallet before heading out the door, "By the way... What exactly _are _you and Ed?" She said with a teasing grin on her lips, causing May's face to tint a little red.

"J-Just friends, you know how I feel about Kevin," May stuttered and punched her sister in the arm. "Let's just go already, okay?"

"Whatever you say, May," Marie laughed and climbed into the drivers seat and started their way towards Strawberry Falls.

* * *

**Okay, so I was originally going to make this and Chapter 6 all one chapter, but pacing is key to a decent story. So yeah, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	7. Chapter 6 - The Not Date

"Galactia Magnum!" Ed shouted as he alternated mashing two buttons, creating a bright flashing across the screen in front of him. Notoriously good at fighting games, Ed had spent the last hour completely destroying player after player in Spirit Excalibur.

May, Edd, and Marie sat leaning against the change machine with a slight smirk on their faces. It really never became boring watching Ed get so worked up over the fighting game competition that the Nickelcade was putting on. Each victory had secured 15 tickets for Ed, and he had a stack that could probably purchase half of the ticket shop and then some.

"Why do they keep playing against him?" Edd asked, a little more rhetorically than anything, but he still had an answer come from the blond-haired girl standing next to him.

"Because they want those tickets from Big Ed," May smirked knowingly. When the winner loses, the entire horde of tickets goes with it.

"You'd think they'd run out of nickels eventually though," Marie shrugged, "I mean, I saw someone just break a hundred to play against him. A freaking hundred dollar bill!"

"Bad part is that he could have bought any of the crap they're selling with that much," May laughed a little before pulling out a dollar and putting it into the machine. "Alright, let's see what I can do."

"Can May play fighting games?" Edd asked quietly as he leaned over towards Marie.

"Not at all," Marie shook her head and laughed a little. "Whatever though, let's go play games while we're here. I mean, we still have ten dollars worth of nickels between us, so let's go have some fun."

"I suppose that's why we came here," Edd shrugged an nodded. Grabbing the two cups, he followed Marie's lead towards the back of the Nickelcade towards the two player games that don't have a single thing to do with fighting. Spending an hour of watching a tournament tends to put a damper on the genre as a whole for a few months in the very least.

"So, how about a shooter?" Marie turned back at Edd with a slight smirk as she motioned towards the large Day of the Living Corpses point-and-shoot game.

"Is that a challenge?" Edd crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk of his own. If there was one thing that he knew how to play, it was games of the 'shoot-em-up' games. Ed usually pulled him into more than just one game when they came to an arcade, so it wasn't too much of a change of pace for him.

"Are you kidding? These games are notoriously coin-eaters," She laughed a little and pulled her cup from Edd's hand and dropped a couple nickels into the machine. "I'd be glad just getting to the end before we blow our college fund."

"Well, then look no further, I'm about to carry you to victory," Edd proclaimed proudly and patted his fist against his chest. The Day of the Living Corpses game was one of the few he had never actually beaten, but he was determined to change that.

That is, until they were halfway through their respective cups and still only a quarter through the game. "Oh come on!" Marie hissed and dropped another two nickels into the machine to continue yet again. "This is insane; like, these games were meant to take your money, but this is ridiculous!"

"This is hitting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles levels of difficulty," Edd stared blankly at the screen as he frantically fired the plastic gun at the swarms of zombies crawling towards him and Marie. "Oh god, my gun stopped working!" Edd panicked as he repeatedly hit the reload button to no avail.

"It's because you have a zombie on you, you have to hit the melee button!" Marie shouted and reached over, pressing the big orange button on his side of the machine before returning and hitting the one on her side. Quickly they both had to dump two more coins into the machine each to continue, in which the onslaught had only worsened.

"Hey guys, I almost beat Ed," May called out from behind them, only to receive a half-dead death glare from both of the players as they continued mashing the gun's trigger. "I- Uhm, sorry, I'll let you go." She slowly backed away with wide eyes, letting the two fall back into their spiral of obsession.

"This isn't just a game anymore, this is war," Marie growled as they finally cleared the room of the remaining zombies, entering a cinematic to give them both a moment of reprieve from the game. Instantly though, they were assaulted by another swarm of zombies, to which Marie slapped down onto her melee button. Well, what she intended to be her melee button, but instead heard her partner yelp in pain at the rather harsh slap his hand had received. "Oh god, Double D, I'm so sorry!"

She looked over at him in a panic to see if he was okay, only to knock over the two cups they had on the edge of the machine. "No!" She spat out as the coins spilled all over the floor right as both of them died on their respective sides of the screen. Quickly they both dove towards the ground to grab a couple nickels, smacking their heads against each other and falling backwards with a yelp of shock, which left them staring blankly at each other for a moment before the machine called out:

"Game Over!"

Edd just sat there with a blank look of disappointment on his face for a good minute before both of them just burst out into laughter. "That game is so hard it's not even funny!" He kept laughing as he leaned forward to pick up the nickels, scooping them up into a cup.

"Then why are we laughing?" Marie snarked and helped him clean up their mess.

"Because we just seriously wasted an hour of our lives playing an abomination of a game," Edd poked his tongue out, only to freeze up when he felt the warmth of another hand over his own. When he looked down, he noticed she accidentally bumped him, but that's when another thought popped up in his head: 'Wow, Marie has some small hands.'

It was just an observation; at least, that's what he was telling himself. She had some really small hands though; even to the point that he actually wondered how she ever managed to beat him up when they were younger. Marie on the other hand was staring at him curiously, looking between the expression on his face and the point he was staring at. "What, is my nail polish that interesting? I mean, I have more black if you want some." She joked, but honestly felt a little abashed at how he was acting from something as simple as a hand bump.

"Huh? Nah, I don't think it's my color," Edd joked when he was broken from his trance, but that thought still lingered on in the back of his head for some reason.

"Did you seriously just make another joke? I swear, it's so weird hearing you with a sense of humor," Marie laughed again and finished scooping the coins into her cup. "Come on, let's go drop the rest of these coins into something that'll get us tickets. After all, that's part of the fun of the arcade."

"Sure, let's go to that phony lottery machines over there," Edd laughed and stood up, leading the way this time around.

* * *

"How did May actually beat you, Ed?" Edd watched in shock as May walked out with a couple bags of random goods that she had bought with her spoils of war. She ended up being the 'honorable opponent' and buying some things for Ed, but it was probably more because she had run out of things she wanted.

"I don't know, Double D!" Ed grieved the loss of his title as the fighting games champion, but he suffered with dignity as he chewed on the sour punch straw that May had bought him.

"What about you, Double D, what all did you get?" May asked and motioned towards his empty arms.

"Me? There wasn't really anything in there that I wanted, and Marie said what she wanted needed more tickets, so I just gave them to her," Edd shrugged and nodded his head back towards the Nickelcade, "She said she wanted us to go ahead and head to your house or something like that?"

"Yeah, we normally order a pizza and watch movies after we go out like this, right big Ed?" May said and playfully elbowed her friend with a smirk. "Hell, if she's going to take that long, I'll just text her to pick up the pizza while she's coming home."

"Pizza, Double D!" Ed grinned widely. "Am I riding with you or May?"

"Ride with me, Big Ed," May smirked and tugged at his sleeve. "Remember, we gotta stop by your house first for the movies."

"So we're watching one of Ed's movies... Oh, joy." Edd smirked and rolled his eyes with his sarcasm dripping from every word. He had easily seen his friend's films a dozen times each, so the idea of seeing them yet again was a little boring to say the least.

"Hey, he bought some new movies we're gonna watch," May invited him as Ed climbed into the passenger seat of her Buick. "You can go ahead and go to the trailer if you want; we won't take too long."

With that, Edd found himself standing alone in front of the Nickelcade. Normally he would have already been on his way, but it felt wrong to just leave Marie out here on her own. After about five minutes, Edd was ready to just leave either way, but Marie finally emerged from the Nickelcade with a wide grin and a bag on her arm.

"Sorry, I had to drop another five bucks on the slots machine to get enough tickets, but here we are," She held out the bag towards him with a proud smirk on her lips.

"What did you get?" He almost was ready to scold her for not telling him she was going to be so long, but his words were lost the moment he saw what was in the bag. There was a black beanie, reminiscent of the one he had lost, but there was a small white skull with crossbones on the bottom of the hat right next to the two white stripes running up it. "Marie, why did you-"

"Because you lost it while saving my life," Marie explained before he even had the chance to ask. She giggled a little and gave him a light punch on the arm. "There, now you don't have to look so dorky with that red one."

"I look like a dork?" Edd was shocked at this revelation. All this time, he thought he looked good in the red hat, but Marie had just shattered that fantasy.

"A little, but it's okay, you can pull it off in a weird way," She laughed and shook her head. "By the way, where's May at?"

"Huh? She went with Ed to pick up a couple movies from his house for tonight. She said she was going to text you to get a pizza." He explained and changed his hats, looking in the side mirror of his car to see how it looked.

"Wait, I rode here with her though. How the hell was I supposed to pick up the pizza," Marie deadpanned and shook her head. "God, whatever. Hey, can I catch a ride with you instead since we're going to the same place anyway?"

"Really? I feel like she tried to make you the butt of some bad joke," Edd laughed but opened the passenger door for her. "Sure, we can just grab Little Caesars or something on the way."

"Thank you," Marie smiled and climbed into the car, only realizing at what he had just done for her only after the door was closed. 'Did he just seriously open a car door for me?'

"Well, let's hope that Ed bought some good movies," Edd sighed as he buckled up in the driver's seat. "I refuse to have to watch anything like 'The Return of Evil Tim' again."

"Oh come on, that was a good movie!" Marie argued, turning her head to Edd with a mock hurt expression. "I mean, the rubber masks were kind of bad, but the story itself was good!"

"It was so cliché though," Edd quipped, sparking a conversation that they argued over until they made it back to the trailer park.

* * *

"Alright, so I got popcorn in the microwave, what all do you want to drink?" May poked her head out from the kitchen, seeing Ed and Marie set up the DVD player for their movie night. "Also, Marie, don't forget to take your meds."

"Huh? Oh right, I took that before you all got home," Marie replied before cussing at the DVD player plug for shocking her. "By the way, that was very funny trying to strand me in Strawberry Falls earlier."

"Oh come on, I knew Double D wasn't just going to up and leave you," May laughed a little, bringing out four cups of Coca-cola and a bowl filled with caramel coated popcorn to go with the pepperoni pizza they had bought. Well, the pepperoni pizza, and then Marie bought her own one with anchovies. "I still don't know how you can eat that."

"What? I like the salt," Marie shrugged, biting down onto a slice of the fish-coated pizza as proof.

"I actually have to agree with May on this one; that's just disgusting," Edd shook his head at watching Marie literally bite off the head of a fish and eat it. He wasn't a big fan of seafood in general, so the thought of putting some on a pizza almost bordered on blasphemy for him.

"Double D, I got a good movie this time!" Ed cheered and showed him the case to what was no doubt to be a cult classic. It was about some kid living with his mom when a vampire moves in next door and tries to kill him when the kid finds out what he is.

"It looks... Lovely, Ed," Edd patted his friend on the head and handed him the case back with a slight laugh, only to be cut off by the sound of a phone ringing.

"I got it!" May called out, only to have her ankle grabbed and Marie jumping over her to the phone.

"No you don't!" Marie laughed and answered it with a smug grin on her face, "Hello?"

"You two are still so violent to each other," Edd commented after witnessing that display that they lovingly referred to as 'sibling bonding'. To which, May only nodded and sat up.

"You should see her and Lee," May laughed a little before turning to her sister, "Who is it?"

Marie only put up her finger to silence May, turning away and mumbling something into the phone. "Well fine," May grumbled and turned back to her guests, "Whatever, so are we watching the vampire flick first, or the one about the pod people?"

"Vampires!" Ed cheered and popped the CD into the tray of the DVD player.

"Yes, both sound about the same level of interesting," Edd sarcastically remarked, but he honestly was looking forward to having a movie night with his friends, especially now that he had the chance to make amends with the Kankers.

Their conversation was pretty idle while they waited for Marie to return, but once she finally had, it placed a thick layer of unease on the entire house as May playfully commented, "God, took you long enough slowpoke." But her playful tone shattered the moment she saw the look on her older sister's face. Her cheeks were streaked black and her eyes were still watering from what was easily the worst conversation she had ever had. "Marie?"

"That was Penny on the phone... Dad's in the hospital," Marie stated with a tone that was both calm and collected, in contrast to her ragged outwards appearance. "He was walking to the gas station and was hit by a drunk driver."

"Oh my god, Marie, I'm so sorry..." May's eyes widened in horror, and in that moment, she was by her sister's side, pulling her into a warm embrace. It was no secret that May and Marie were only half sisters, having different fathers, but her and Lee both understood good and well how close Marie was to Bubba. "Wait, what about Penny? I mean, if he's in the hospital..."

"She's on a train here as we speak," Marie sniffled and turned to their guests, both of which were obviously unsure what to say or do. "I-I'm sorry guys, but can we try again later? I just-"

"Say no more, Marie," Edd offered with a look of understanding, walking closer and giving her a gentle hug. It was one that may have been overstepping his bounds, but she accepted it no less, and had in fact pulled him closer.

"Thank you, Edd," She sniffled softly before letting go after a minute. "Thank you too, Ed." Marie said, giving Ed a hug as well, albeit shorter this time around.

After seeing the two guests off, Marie completely broke down, collapsing to her knees with only May there to try and comfort her. 'How does such a good night end like _this_?!' She screamed at herself in her head, squeezing her sister to the point of almost breaking her in two. Normally May would protest, but she just settled on dealing with the pain as Marie let out her own sorrow. "Why the fuck, May, why the fuck?!" She hissed, not really expecting an answer.

"I wish I knew," May frowned a little and pulled her closer. "When's Penny supposed to show up?"

"Here in a couple hours, but why the hell didn't she call me earlier?! She said he was hit last night, but she decided to call me when she's almost fucking here?!" Marie lashed out verbally, wanting to just turn her sorrow into aggression, but not even sure what to aim it at.

"Shh, just calm down and breath," May offered, trying to comfort her sister a little before what was bound to be a long night ahead for them both.

* * *

** Well, here we are with a different turn! This is partly me setting up for another side story as well, but it's going to play a pretty big role in this story as well too. So anyway, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	8. Chapter 7 - Mistakes Almost Were Made

"I can't believe they're making you start school here when there's like three weeks left," Marie stated with a half-laugh to the girl that was walking beside her. "It's downright stupid is what it is."

"Well, in all fairness, I have no idea how long dad's gonna be in the hospital... Like, he's stable, but he's still comatose." She replied with a halfhearted shrug. Although both of the girls were trying to keep up their spirits, the fact that Bubba was out of commission still weighed on them like a tonne of bricks. "At least they agreed to transfer my grades over though, so I'm not going to fail or anything like that."

Marie nodded in agreement, "I suppose that's a plus... Hell, if nothing else, you can have fun at Prom and after-prom with me. It'd be a blast." She suggested with a hint of sarcasm, trying to keep the topic off of their father. The night before was an adventure for all of the Kanker daughters; especially after Lee and their mom came home at around two AM.

"You know I'm not a fan of school events like that," Penny deadpanned a little even at the mention of Prom.

"Bah, you're no fun," Marie laughed and gave her a gentle punch on the arm. Although she was used to being borderline violent with her other sisters at times, Penny was always a little different. She didn't really wear the title of Kanker and was actually a complete pacifist most of the time.

"Ouch," She grumbled and rubbed her arm. "I can't believe Lee and May are skipping school because they were 'tired'. I mean, they slept just as much as we did."

"Yeah, but you know how lazy they can be," Marie giggled and locked arms with her far-flung sister. "Let's go to the cafeteria; they're having breakfast pizza today."

"Sounds good to me," Penny laughed a little, being not really all too hungry, but was honestly happy just to be seeing her sister again after about a year.

* * *

"Are you really eating school food, Sockhead?" Eddy joked with a mouthful of pizza.

"My first alarm didn't go off today, so I didn't have time to make breakfast," Edd shrugged and took a reluctant bite from his own slice. He honestly was never a fan of school food, let alone the cheap prefrozen pizza that they served.

"But I wanted your breakfast," Ed whimpered with big puppy eyes. It had become a habit of Edd to give Ed his breakfast over the years, so it usually disappointed the guy when the status quo was disturbed.

"So, you all decide who you're taking to prom yet?" Eddy asked his usual question that he insisted on asking at least twice a week since the dance was announced.

"Still probably not going," Edd rolled his eyes and took another reluctant bite from his pizza. No matter how many times he heard his friend ask, it did nothing other than prove to be more and more annoying.

Ed mumbled something through a mouthful of food, but for once it was audibly something other than 'no'. Both Edd and Eddy stopped what they were doing and slowly looked at Ed with mouths partly agape. "Come again?" Eddy asked cautiously, making sure his ears weren't deceiving him.

"I said Clara Vauo," Ed reiterated with a proud grin that left both of his friends a little flabbergasted. Mostly because Edd knew Ed wasn't interested in the dance anyway, and Eddy because his friend had gotten a date before him.

"Wait, didn't she have a little incident over the camping trip? Is she okay?" Edd shifted from surprise to concern upon remembering what had happened before he and Marie were trapped inside of the cave.

Ed clammed up for a moment at his friend's question, but gave a soft nod, "She's okay, just shaken up."

Just as Edd was about to ask about his reaction, Eddy decided to interject, "Really? How'd you get a date before me?! I mean, Clara's no winner, but someone is better than no one."

"Eddy!" Edd scolded him for his poor choice of words, but Ed wore a different expression altogether. It was one of perplexity, which was a look that rarely was seen on the big guy.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little pissed about getting dumped still," Eddy rolled his eyes before looking around the cafeteria, "See, I can still get a date, but we need to hook you up ASAP, Sockhead." His eyes eventually locked on two girls walking into the cafeteria, "Hey, who's that with your 'girlfriend'?" Eddy joked a little, but pointed out the girl standing next to Marie Kanker.

"Girlfriend?" Edd raised a confused brow before realizing who he was referring to. "She's not my girlfriend, Eddy." He deadpanned for a brief moment before softening his expression to look at the girl next to her. She was the same height as Marie, so about five and a half feet tall, but had a contrary shoulder length auburn hair color with blue eyes. While she wasn't hard on the eyes, she wasn't anything particularly exceptional, not that Edd was judging. 'Perhaps I spend too much time with Eddy after all,' He mentally scolded himself for taking a more shallow look on someone.

"Bah, I think she may just be a H.F.A." Eddy turned and sat back down, taking another bite from his pizza before realizing the confused look from both of his friends. "Hot from afar." His explanation was quick and to the point, but it just made Edd shake his head disapprovingly.

"Did she just move here? I just read a comic book like this; she might be an alien, guys," Ed spoke with a wide, excited grin in hopes that she really was some kind of extraterrestrial, but Edd quickly dismissed that notion altogether.

"More likely she's a friend of Marie's, but with that being said, I have no idea why she would transfer so late in the year," He explained his theory, which was lost on both of his friends.

"Whatever, she's probably going to just be another Kanker for the school," Eddy sighed before noticing a couple of the school cheerleaders walking by. "Hm... If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go grab a date for prom now." He proclaimed bravely and slinked off after them.

"So, what about you, Ed? How have you been?" Edd laughed a little at his friend's shenanigans before turning his attention back to Ed.

"Good," He said simply before looking over towards the door and then back to Edd, "I gotta go, see you in first period, Double D!" He said with a goofy grin, but he had a certain look of fear in his eyes as he ran off to dump his tray.

"Now what's gotten into him?" Edd said worriedly, but turned back to finish his food still. "I do hope Marie's doing okay..." He found himself idly remembering what had happened last night, but he shook it off and decided to ask her in Chemistry or P.E.

* * *

"Alright guys, I know it's a little bizarre, but we actually have a new student today. She transferred here due to personal reasons, but please giver her a warm welcome. Her name is Penelope Newton," The teacher for Physical Education explained to the whole class. "Alright, so honestly I don't give a fuck what you all do today. Probably dodge ball if you guys want, or you can just sit in the bleachers and 'study'." Mr. Stevenson was known for his bluntness with the students, which is why a lot of kids actually enjoyed his classes, but it had gotten him into trouble on multiple occasions with the school. He was actually almost fired, but when the students caught wind of it, they actually ended up petitioning for him to stay.

Marie grinned at hearing that they were going to play dodge ball, but as she went to stand up, she stopped when she noticed Edd sit down next to her with a certain worried expression. Almost instantly she knew what it was about, but she gave him her best smile and spoke before he could, "Can we talk about it after school? Like, we can go to McDonalds or something, I'm just not really ready to talk about it yet." She tried to explain calmly, but it came off with a hint of anger and sorrow in her voice.

"Yeah, definitely," Edd said nervously when he noticed her look. He had intended on asking, but he wasn't going to pry into something that really wasn't his business if she didn't want to. "Just... I'm here to listen if you need it." It was a small gesture, but it was all he could offer.

"I... Thank you," Marie was a little taken aback from how nice he was being about it, but she tried not to show it with her actions. Before she left to play a game, she turned back to Edd and gave him a slight smile, "By the way, the hat really does look good." She commented and walked off towards the court.

Edd just watched in a brief moment of shock from the compliment, but only smiled a little from it. It was a simple gift, but he honestly loved that hat, maybe even more than the one he had lost. Although it was just a prize from the Nickelcade, it was more of why he had it than what it was that mattered.

The rest of the period was spent watching Marie pound May with dodge balls and laughing maniacally from it. It actually had devolved into a full on fist fight between the two right as the bell rang, which the teacher halfheartedly scolded them for. Edd on the other hand just sat with a few thoughts on his mind; mostly about what was going on with Ed, a little bit of curiosity about the new girl, but mainly a worry for Marie lingered in his thoughts.

'I do hope she's okay,' He commented to himself, watching said Kanker leave the gym, only to head back in upon remembering that her and Edd were supposed to be going somewhere.

"Hey Edd, you alive?" She waved her hand in front of him for a moment before getting a little angry at being ignored and slapping his cheek lightly to wake him up. "God, you're as thick as Ed when you're spaced out."

"Oh sorry. It's funny you mention that though; Ed's been acting a little weird this morning," He commented with a slight shrug. "So, shall we?"

"Yeah, hold up," She said and turned over towards Penny, who was gathering up her bags. "Hey Penny, can you grab a ride with Lee? I remembered I had to do something before coming home."

The girl brushed her hair behind her ear and looked between her and Edd for a moment before a sly smirk appeared on her face. "Sure, just be sure to use protection." She joked before half-running out of the gym to escape Marie's death glare.

"Wait, didn't I hear you say that name last night?" Edd raised his brow. "By the way, can we take your car? I had a ride with Eddy today, so I don't really have a way to get to McDonalds."

"Sure, but my car's a bit of a mess," She answered as the two walked out of the gym. "But yeah, I mentioned her name last night. She's my sister that lives with dad down in Florida; basically when they divorced, they kind of decided to split us up, but we usually visit each other during breaks."

"Oh, and because your father's condition, she's spending time here?" Edd asked hesitantly, not really comfortable bringing up her father if he was in bad enough condition to warrant her sister moving cross-country for it.

"Yeah," Marie replied flatly and bit her nail. "He's stable, but is in a coma. God, when I say it like that, it sounds like a really bad soap opera." She joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"It kind of does," Edd tried to play along, but he knew good and well that she wasn't going to be cheered up by something so simple. He opened the driver's door for her with a slight smile and shrugged, "We should talk about something happier if you're not ready."

Marie felt her face warm up a little at noticing how he opened the car door for her yet again, not really even sure if he realized it or not. "I'd like that, actually. I mean, my sister's in town now, so I have plenty of time to mope later."

Edd closed the door behind her and climbed into the passenger seat, taking a moment to look around the truck. While he was expecting it to be in complete disarray, it actually was pretty clean apart from a soda can here or there on the floor. "So... What are you doing for prom?" Edd asked without thinking, just trying to drum up a conversation.

"Are you asking me to prom?" Marie grimaced a little as she started the car and drove. "Because that's about as subtle as a cat getting its tail caught in a rocking chair."

"I- Oh heavens no!" Edd's eyes widened in realization at how he must have sounded. "No! I was just trying to have a pleasant conversation!" His cheeks visibly tinted a little red at the implications that could have been drawn from his word choice.

"I was just teasing, Jesus," Marie laughed and gave Edd a punch on the arm, causing him to yelp quietly and rub it. "Even after all these years, you're still such a nervous wreck."

"Well, you haven't exactly changed all that much either," Edd glared a little at her, sliding up his sleeve to make sure she hadn't left a bruise.

"Hey, at least we aren't chasing you and your friends again," Marie snickered and pulled into the McDonalds parking lot. "But back onto topic, I don't have a date to prom. I was originally going to go with Tim Atkins, but the guy pussied out on me." Right as she was about to grab for the handle, she decided to see something and stopped herself from opening the door. 'If he'll open the door for me to get out, let's just wait and see...' She silently spoke to herself as she watched Edd predictably walk over to her side of the car and open the door. "Are you always such a gentleman?" She joked and climbed out, letting him close the door behind her.

"What do you mean?" He asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Opening the door for me," She gestured towards her truck and laughed. "Are you trying to woo me so I'll say yes to going to prom?"

Edd laughed a little at her joke with her and shook his head, "No, it's just that I was always taught to be a gentlemen by my parents, so I suppose it has just become habit for me."

"Well, it's not a bad habit to have," She smiled a little and opened the door to the restaurant for him this time around, to which he obliged kindly.

"Thank you," He smiled and waited for her to follow before approaching the counter.

"What would you like, Marie?" Edd asked and looked back towards the girl next to him, who stared up at the sign in thought.

"Maybe the ten piece chicken nugget meal," She said. "Large combo actually."

"I'll just have two spicy chicken wraps," Edd said and pulled out his wallet, paying the cashier with his card. Once he had their number, he walked over to a booth with his friend and sat down.

"Sly asshole, paying for me again," She glared at him for a moment, but took a drink from her Dr. Pepper.

"Being a gentleman," He joked and took a sip of his own water.

"Back to that earlier though, are you doing anything for prom?" She leaned over the table with a smirk, trying to shift the conversation to embarrass him.

"Oh, I have three dates," He bragged playfully before his smirk gave his lie away. "I'm not going to prom probably, it just doesn't really appeal to me."

"God, you and Penny," Marie laughed and rolled her eyes before twisting around, letting out several loud cracks that echo out from her spine.

"Ew," Edd visibly cringed from the sound of her popping, watching in a mix of disgust an intrigue. "How did you even do that?"

"Huh? Are you saying you don't?" She stared back in disbelief at what she was hearing. All of her sisters made a habit of popping their joints whenever the opportunity arose, so hearing someone reject it seemed about as foreign as a meteorite.

"I would never," Edd shook his head, but quickly brought back his composure when he heard their number be called out. "I'll be right back." He smirked and stood up, walking off towards the counter to get their food.

* * *

"You're a mechanic, how did you not realize you left your lights on?" Edd laughed as Marie and he walked down the side of the road. When she tried to call Lee, she didn't get a response, so she just decided that she'd deal with the car tomorrow. This left both her and Edd stranded, so they just decided to enjoy the cool night air with a walk.

"I'm just surprised we actually hung out in a McDonalds for five hours," Marie giggled and shook her head.

"French fry wars are just that intense apparently," Edd rubbed the back of his head and poked his tongue out playfully. They spent at least two hours flinging french fries at each other because Marie got bored and started it. Apart from a few grease stains on their clothes, they both came out pretty unscathed.

"You're telling me," She smirked. "By the way Edd, thank you for today. I really needed something to cheer me up; especially with all that's been happening lately. Mom's been working a lot of doubles and now that Penny's in, May and Lee are probably going to focus on her for a week or so."

"Is that how it normally works when she visits?" Edd looked over at the girl next to him and frowned wryly at what he was hearing.

"Don't get me wrong, like it's nothing bad; I mean, they just see Penny about as often as I do, so they always like to hang out with her when she's in town," Marie waved her hands to dismiss any negative thoughts that Edd may have been developing. "Trust me, I love my sister more than anything."

"Okay, I was just making sure," Edd's expression quickly shifted into a slight smile. Before he was able to ask anything else, he felt Marie grab his wrist and suddenly pull him off to the side. "The park?" He asked when he noticed that she was pulling him towards the swings.

"Yeah, I just realized how long it's been since I've been here," Marie shrugged and sat down on the swing on the far end of the set. "By the way, Edd, if you mention how I was acting earlier to _anyone_, then you're going to be eating through a straw for a while." Edd froze up when he heard her threat, but she just smiled sweetly. "Just sayin', I still have a bit of a reputation to keep."

Edd sighed a little and sat down on the swing next to her, "You really know how to keep a guy quiet."

For a few minutes, the two just swung in silence, but Marie finally spoke up when she remembered something. "Hey, do you remember that one time that I taped you to the underside of the slide and kissed you all over?" She couldn't help but laugh a little. "Or when Me, Lee, and May chained you guys up to this swing set?"

Edd cringed a little at both of those memories before laughing a little himself, "Ed actually broke the chains with his brute strength too, it was pretty amusing in hind sight. Although, it was horrifying back then." He shot Marie a glance when he tacked on that last part.

"Yeaaaaah," She said in an exaggerated manner, "I'm sorry about that, we always got a little rough with you all back then."

"Rough wouldn't be the word I would use," Edd pointed out, but still smirked a little. "Bad part though, is that you all probably would have been more attractive if you weren't so adamant about it. I at least know that Ed thought May was pretty when he first met her, but you all were just so hectic."

Marie smirked a little, "I think those two have a thing going on now; like, have you noticed?" She commented and fished around in her pocket for a moment, only to pull out a small box that made Edd go wide eyed when he noticed what it was.

"You smoke?!" He was taken aback, but when she popped that cigarette in her mouth, he had to admit that something about it fit.

"Yeah, you want one?" She joked, but when he shook his head fervently, she just laughed. "Good, it's a bad habit. You don't mind if I smoke though, do you?"

Edd frowned wryly, but he shrugged, "Eddy smokes a lot when we're hanging out too, so it's fine as long as you don't blow the smoke at me."

Marie nodded and lit the cigarette, pocketing her lighter and pack again, "I picked it up when I came back from Florida back in freshman year. It's a bad habit, but I guess I'm not doing drugs at least."

"Well, technically nicotine is a drug, but it is good that you are not doing anything particularly illegal or immoral," Edd agreed, watching her take a long drag from her cigarette. Despite normally being disgusted by smoking, something about Marie doing it just fit like a good glove; kind of like it complimented the 'bad girl' attitude that she wore.

"Don't go all science nerd on me," Marie smirked and took another hit. "I heard enough of that in Chemistry. Hell, you even explained the science behind why people enjoy P.E. You need to break that habit." She joked and let out a content sigh as she gazed up at the quarter moon that hung lazily overhead with the clouds and stars. "I'd miss this if I ever left Peach Creek."

"The stars?" Edd asked as he looked up with her, seeing the drifting clouds briefly cover the constellations that he almost instinctively picked out.

"And how quiet it is; in the big city, you hear the noise of cars almost everywhere you go. That, and if you tried to hang around a park at night, you might get mugged," She explained and raised her hand, grabbing aimlessly at the sky. "Have you ever wondered what clouds would feel like if we could touch them?"

"They probably would be cold and moist," He said realistically, getting a wry expression from his friend.

"Wow, you really lack romanticism," She rolled her eyes and looked back up at the sky. "Okay, imagine if they were something more tangible. Would they feel like cotton, or would they be brittle? Would people make pillows out of them, or maybe make snacks that you add flavoring to and just eat?"

"I wish I had your imagination," Edd joked, watching her gaze at the clouds overhead with a sparkle of wonderment in her eyes. Sadly despite his intelligence and knowledge, his parents preached more for him to stay grounded in reality over looking into the fantastical or romantic.

"No, you really don't," She mumbled, but quickly changed the topic. "So, I just realized that we're kind of friends again, and yet we haven't really caught up on anything. Like, what have you been doing over the years?" Marie turned to straddle the swing, having one chain come up from between her legs and the other behind her.

Edd turned towards her in the same position and sighed. "Honestly? Not much. I just focused on school; I dated Ed's little sister for a little while, but it didn't work out. What about you? I mean, I've been learning a lot of things about you lately that I haven't even thought about before."

"Oh, like what?" Marie raised her brow curiously.

"Well, you have a sister that lives with your dad, you work in an auto shop, you are surprisingly clean with your car, and you are far more feminine than I ever realized," Edd listed them off on his fingers.

"Surprisingly clean? Rude," She joked and poked her tongue out. "As far as me being feminine though, what did you expect? I just happen to like to kick ass and take names in addition to cooking and painting. Hell, you're braver than I ever realized. I mean, you fucking tackled a water moccasin with nothing but a hat."

Edd's cheeks lit up a little, but it was thankfully obscured by the darkness of the night. "For what it's worth, I'm pretty happy with what happened though. We became friends because of that landslide, so I guess you take the good with the bad." Even though Marie nodded in agreement, he noticed that she was staring at his hat. "What's going on?"

"Hm?" She was snapped from her trance, but relaxed a little again, wrapping her arms around the chain in front of her. "I was just wondering... Does it hurt?"

Edd was confused for a second before realizing what she was talking about, "Not really... I mean, if you hit it, or if it's a really cold day then sometimes it aches, but it's not bad. I do get pretty bad migraines randomly though, but I'm unsure of whether or not the scar has anything to do with it."

"Can I look at it again?" Marie had a grin appear on her face as her morbid curiosity started to get the better of her.

Although Edd thought about it for a moment, he eventually gave her a nod to which her smile widened even more. Marie slowly scooted closer to him, almost to where they were touching. He could feel her hands brush against the sides of his head and through his hair as they moved to get underneath the hat and remove it, to which she leaned a little closer to look over it.

While Marie was focused on the scar, Edd, on the other hand, felt his cheeks heat up a little from how close she was to him. He could even feel her breath roll down across his face, and he couldn't help but notice the slow rising and falling of her chest to match. 'Edd, what are you thinking?' He asked himself, wanting to yell at his heart for how fast it was beating, but he wasn't even sure why. No, he wasn't a stranger to the feelings he was having, but he also knew that they were just surfacing from being in such close proximity to a female.

"Wow," Marie commented, which Edd could feel her warm breath against the scar with her words. "I would say that I got that fighting a bear." She joked and slowly slid the hat back onto his head and started to push herself back, but something kept her locked against Edd. "What are you doing?"

It took him a moment to realize what he was doing, but while she was looking at his scar, he had apparently latched onto the sides of her shirt without even realizing it. He felt his cheeks light up a little more as Marie's face was locked in front of his own now, but every fiber of his mind was screaming at him to let her go and walk away. "I-I..." He tried to find the words, but his heart threatened to beat out of his chest if he let this lingering warmth go. No, he had no idea how he felt about Marie, but his body's carnal desire to have the warmth of someone else was almost agonizing to him.

"Edd...?" She asked again, which was enough to bring Edd back to his senses and let go of Marie's sides, but she still just sat there with those two blue oceans of eyes staring through her glasses towards his brown gaze. "After all you said to me, you do this..." She murmured, feeling her own mind shift uneasily as it worked to process what was happening. It almost felt like a poker stabbing at a fire to reignite the smoldering coals, but she was trying to keep those flames from burning.

"I'm so sorry," Is all he said, but he felt her arms wrap around his neck, and with caving into his body's desire, he leaned in towards her. Although their lips hadn't touched, and although they both knew how much of a mistake they were making, they both could feel a certain need hit them.

'No!' That's when he made the decision and he pulled away slowly with a deep sigh. His heart was screaming at him for not kissing her, but he realized just how horrible of a thing he was doing. After everything he had said to her, and after the stress that had been collapsing on her, kissing her for the sheer physical pleasure would not only break her, but would shatter what humanity he has.

Marie looked hurt for a moment, but she quickly wiped her eyes and offered him a slight smile, "Thank you, Edd..." She really did feel relieved that he had the willpower to stop, but she also felt a certain loneliness wash over her as she realized just how much she longed for someone's warmth. With a sniffle, she gave him a quick punch in the ribs and smirked, "That's for even thinking about it, ass. Let's go home." She said and stood up, waiting for him to recover from the pain that was throbbing from his chest after being hit.

The walk back was spent with Edd pouting from being punched, but he still walked Marie back to her trailer just in case. After all, even if she was violent, a gentleman wouldn't let a girl walk that far alone. "Good night, Marie." Edd said nervously and turned to leave, but his arm was caught by her iron grip.

"Wait!" She stated, and when he turned to face her, he saw a face that could scare a baby into tears. "Remember what I'll do to you if you mention tonight to anyone, are we clear?" Once he nodded in fear, she smiled sweetly and leaned up, planting a soft, quick, and fleeting peck on his cheek before turning away. "Good night, Edd."

Even after she walked into the house, Edd still was watching where she stood in a strange mixture of shock and intrigue. Although it was brief, it was the kind of kiss that left a lingering tingling sensation and warmth to remind him that it really had just happened. It wasn't even the kind of kiss she used to force on him when he was younger; no, it felt like what silk feels like compared to sandpaper.

With that lingering warmth and an awkward grin on his face, he made his way back towards his house for the night.

* * *

**This chapter was weird and hectic, but it's the start of shit hitting the fan. So anyway, feel free to feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	9. Chapter 8 - Visitations

**Okay, so I wanted to thank you guys for all of the comments. Not all too many of them were negative, but a few did offer certain constructive criticism here and there. Either way though, I'm glad you all are enjoying the story.**

* * *

Edd slumped over the counter as he watched the clock tick on by one second at a time. He was trapped in his usual shift at work, leaving him with the usual hollow feeling from having to help the ignorant masses of Peach Creek with technology that they knew absolutely nothing about. When he first took the job, he was expecting to enjoy it, but it was just so much of dealing with the same kind of problems day in and day out. It didn't help either that his head was half in the clouds as the memory from the night before played through his head; it was a fleeting moment, but it was one that started to break his perceptions.

'Could I possibly like Marie?' He thought aimlessly and fiddled with the pen in his hand. Last night was definitely something more related to physical attraction in the very least, but the small act of a peck on the cheek had proven to send an uneasy chill throughout his body. 'No, I don't think I really have too much interest apart from friendship,' He tried to clarify his feelings, but they were muddied with the events of the past few weeks. It was no secret that he liked to try and help those around him when they were hurting, so maybe that's what it was with Marie. 'At least, I don't recall ever looking at her until after that night,' He frowned wryly, rolling ideas around in his head in a poor attempt to rationalize what he was feeling.

"Double D?" He heard a voice call his name, breaking the trance he had been trapped in for easily an hour now. Standing across the counter from him were three girls with a wry look on their faces that spelled nothing but trouble. Standing five foot eleven was Lee Kanker with a scowl that could kill, and next to her was the wiry May Kanker who had a mixed expression, and lastly there was the latest arrival to the trailer park, Penny Newton.

"Yeah, what can I help you girls with?" He felt himself stand up straight, but more out of an uneasy fear than work ethic. The looks that they were wearing would be enough to make milk curdle and paint peel.

"When do you get off, Sockhead?" Lee asked bluntly and crossed her arms; which although it was a simple gesture, it made her feelings clear as day.

"Here in thirty minutes, why?" He adjusted his tie nervously. Although he could deal with Marie or May, Lee had always struck a certain fear into his heart that he could never just quite explain.

"We'll be waiting for you outside; we have to talk," She grimaced, visibly holding back what had to be a boiling cauldron of rage as she lead her sisters out of the store.

"Oh dear," Edd mumbled to himself, but out of fear for his well being, he did as he was told and waited outside of the shop for the three girls after his shift had ended. It only took a few minutes before May approached him.

"Come on, Lee wants to talk to you away from everyone," She said and waved for him to follow.

"Against my better judgment, I suppose," He replied sardonically and followed her with his shoulders literally shaking from fear of what was awaiting him. The moment he turned a corner after May, he found himself with a whole lot less air in his lungs as he was forced against the wall from the red haired Kanker.

"Sarah told us that she saw you and Marie kissing last night at the park, and I want fucking answers!" Her words were sharp with the spray of saliva reinforcing her anger.

Edd visibly recoiled in a combination of disgust and fear, to which Penny thankfully laid her hand on her step-sister's shoulder with a gentle shake of the head. "Calm down, let him at least explain before we let you beat on him."

"Yeah, Lee, he's behaved up until last night," May nodded with a nervous frown of her own. She knew damn well what Lee was going to do to Edd if he didn't give her the answer that she wanted to hear.

"I. Fine." She grumbled and let him go, cracking her knuckles eagerly and giving him a moment to recover. "I want you to explain what happened last night, and make sure not to lie."

Edd grinned nervously but nodded, "O-Okay. As I'm sure you all know, Marie and I spent time with Ed and May, and we returned to your trailer to watch movies, which ended because Marie received some unfortunate news." As he recounted that part, he could see Penny visibly shy away from the group. "But onto topic, I approached her in seventh period and inquired about how she was feeling and if there were anything I could do-"

"I'm going to stop you there; what gives you the right to be all nosy in her business?" Lee took a threatening step closer, but Edd quickly replied.

"I was just worried; I-I assure you that I made sure not to pressure her," He paused for a moment to compose himself when he noticed her relax a little as well. "_She _asked _me _if we could go out to McDonalds or some restaurant after class was out to talk about it."

"So that's what that was about?" Penny asked, gaining a glance from both of her sisters.

"You _knew _he went out with Marie, and you didn't stop them?!" Lee grumbled.

"I didn't know who he was, well, I mean, I didn't know he was the reason that she came to Florida," Penny raised her hands defensively, which reminded Lee that she didn't quite have that Kanker disposition, so she turned her attention back to Edd.

"Whatever, go on," Lee grimaced.

"R-Right, anyway... We ended up sitting and talking for a few hours and goofing off, just me trying to help keep her mind off of it. Apparently she had left her lights on and we ended up having to procure other methods of returning home; namely walking. She wanted to talk a little more in the park, but I can guarantee that we did _not _kiss," Edd explained.

"Yeah? Sarah seemed pretty sure about it," Lee crossed her arms, lowering the aggressive tone in her voice, but she was still obviously ready to hit Edd if the opportunity arose.

"Why was Sarah even at the park that late?" Edd frowned wryly. "Either way, have you discussed this with Marie?"

"I... Well, I guess not, but still, you better fucking watch yourself," Lee took a step back and gave Edd a moment of breathing room.

"Soooooooo," May leaned against the wall next to Edd with a sly grin on her face. "How _do _you feel about Marie?"

Edd froze up from her question, briefly reliving the reward he had received last night for his self-control. Frowning wryly, he looked at the three girls that surrounded him, but he decided to brave it, "Honestly?"

"Honestly." Penny answered for her sister and took the wall on the other side of the boy.

"I have no idea." He was being honest, but it still elicited a dangerous look from Lee, who was obviously holding back due to her sisters.

"You don't know?" May asked and swept her short hair behind her ear. "Do you want my honest opinion? Be her friend, but don't go after her."

"Friends? He doesn't even deserve that after what he said to her, do you really fucking trust him to not hurt her?" Lee growled, unable to hold back her tongue any longer.

"Lee, Marie told me about last night; which she left out the whole potential kissing business, but from what I've heard, she sounded pretty happy," Penny commented. "Like, happier than I've heard her in a long time."

"Like you hardly talk to her," Lee grimaced, trying to find any reason to mistrust Edd in the face of two sisters that were fighting _for _him.

"Not in person," Penny deadpanned. "We do talk over the phone at least once a week though, Leanne."

"Do you two really think he won't hurt her? You know how she can be," Lee sighed.

"Do I know? I have no idea, but my sister is a big girl; she can make her own choices." Penny shrugged and put in her last two cents.

"When he spent time with me and Big Ed, he wasn't all jerky or some bullshit like that," May shrugged and stepped away from Edd, towards her red haired sister.

"Do I get a say in this?" Edd asked quietly, only to get a simultaneous 'no' from the three girls.

"I..." Lee stopped in thought for a moment before taking a step closer to Edd and pinning him back up against the wall by the shoulders. "I'll be fucking watching you, so you better not do anything stupid. If you hurt her, I swear you're not going to be able to get out of bed for fucking years."

While the three turned to leave, he noticed May face back towards him for a moment and give him a thumbs up and her mouthing something that only served to confuse him. He wasn't really sure what the meaning behind her words were, but he decided to worry about it later and return home.

* * *

"God, why did Ms. Gray decide to give us so much fucking homework?!" Marie growled and stabbed her pen into that sheet of paper in front of her. Ms. Gray was a history teacher that was in her early twenties, which made her pretty popular with the male students, but she was a complete airhead at times. She apparently was several lessons behind the other teachers, so she decided to go into overdrive after the tests were already finished and hand out homework assignments like they were candy.

She sighed and tossed the textbook off of the table and into the floor, deciding to just draw instead. Pulling the sheet from her canister, she looked over it again with a slight smirk from what she was drawing; although she wasn't the best artist, she definitely had her own style. In front of her was a half-finished recreation of what she had seen last night while facing Edd on the swings.

"God, is it the weekend yet?" She twisted her upper half around to crack her back, but before she could work on her drawing, she heard a loud knocking echo from the door. "What now?" She rolled her eyes and walked back out into the living room.

When she didn't see anyone though the peephole, she opened the door and looked around outside, "Hello?" But when she didn't hear a reply, she just rolled her eyes and closed the door. "Fucking kids."

It wasn't until about ten minutes later, when she was almost entranced with shading her drawing that she heard another knock echo throughout the trailer. "I swear to god." She grumbled and only found an empty porch in front of her when she checked again.

Marie absolutely hated the kids in the trailer park sometimes, as it happened a good five more times in an hour before she decided to ignore it and just focus on her art. "I'm proud of you, Marie," She talked to herself with a wide grin as she looked over the fully shaded drawing. Edd was probably the most detailed, although she knew that there were probably a few features missing here or there; although she prided herself on having a good memory, it was never _that _good.

"I think it's shit," Her entire body froze up when she heard the voice call out from behind her. She knew good and well who it was, but it only served to piss her off instead of scare her.

"Get the fuck out," Marie growled without turning around. She knew that only one guy would be in her house this late at night, and she hated him and his little group more than anything. "All alone this time?"

"You know I'm never truly alone," He replied. "You'll hear from the others soon."

"I better not. Now, you need to get the fuck out, because I sure as hell didn't invite you." She grimaced and reached across the desk, grabbing her lamp. When she didn't hear footsteps leaving, she turned and tossed the lamp with all of her might at the boy. "I said get the hell out!"

* * *

The next morning was horrible; she hadn't had an ounce of sleep and it wasn't until her sisters came home that she finally felt safe again. She still tried her best to have a bounce in her step as she walked, trying not to let anything drag her down now that she was finally done with her drawing. Walking into the cafeteria, she scanned the room for someone other than her sisters for once, and when she finally saw Edd sitting across from his usual group of friends, she approached him with a wide grin.

"I still don't have a date to Prom, Eddy," She heard Edd say as she approached the table, which none of the boys other than Ed seemed to notice her.

"Should I come back at a better time?" Marie offered jokingly to get the attention of the other two Eds. Although Eddy gave her a rather pissed look, she focused more on why she even came over to the table.

"No, you're fine, Marie," Edd smiled kindly and offered her the seat next to him, which she happily took.

"Speak for yourself," Eddy grumbled, deciding to ignore her presence altogether after that.

"Someone's grumpy," Marie joked and turned back to Edd, "Anyway, I have something for you. I got bored and decided to draw, so I ended up with something I didn't really want. So yeah, here you go." She said and gave him the canister she was carrying. The truth was that she was lying about not really wanting it, but she wanted to give the drawing to Edd just out of friendship's sake if nothing else. "I want that tube back though, so I'll be coming by to pick it up or something." She informed him as she walked off again as quickly as she came.

"Did she just give you a present?" Eddy huffed and crossed his arm. "God, are you two actually dating? Because I was just joking, I swear to god if you two are..."

"I assure you, Eddy, it's nothing of the sort; we're just friends and nothing more." Edd replied as he watched Marie with a feeling of uncertainty in his stomach. Something about her seemed off; like she was hiding back her emotions. 'Did something happen with her dad?' He asked himself quietly, but remembered what Lee had told him, and so he just turned back to face his friends. "I have a question though, guys. Like, Lee threatened me yesterday because of my friendship with Marie, which May and Penny helped talk her down, but what should I do?"

"First off, who in hell is Penny?" Eddy asked. "Secondly, I think you shouldn't even be talking to him, man. After all that shit that went down between you two, I have no idea why she's even talking to you."

"Oh, right, Penny was that girl that we saw the other day. She's apparently Marie's sister from Florida that was living with her dad; she's just visiting Peach Creek for a while," Edd explained, making sure not to mention anything about their father's condition. "Thank you though, Eddy, what do you think, Ed?"

"Why wouldn't you want to be friends? We had fun when we were at the Nickelcade, right? We should totally do that again sometime," Ed smiled widely. "Besides, if you're happy being her friend and she's happy being your friend, why not be friends?"

"I- That's actually pretty good advice, Ed," Edd replied, but both he and Eddy were staring at their friend with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. Ed saying things of use were far and few, so it always came off as a little bizarre when he said things like that.

Ed plopped his tongue out like a puppy when Edd gave him an affectionate pat on the head, but it was ended by the sound of the bell ringing. "Well, gentlemen, I shall see you in fourth period."

"Yeah, yeah," Eddy waved it off as his friends walked off to dump their trays. He was honestly completely against Edd even being friends with Marie. Granted, he still had a certain disdain for the Kankers after so many years, but this was something far more. He didn't want to see Edd get hurt because he did something stupid with the middle Kanker.

"You're boned if you fuck this up, Sockhead." Is all he said before going to dump his own tray.

* * *

While the school day went by without any trouble, apparently Marie had went home early because he hadn't had the chance to ask her about why she seemed to upset. In Chemistry, they were too busy doing lab with their usual partners to talk, and she was just missing from P.E. altogether.

"And mother and father are working as usual," Edd rolled his eyes and sprawled out onto his couch after another long day at work. While he loved his parents, he rarely had the chance to see them unless it was during the weekend; especially with how they worked the graveyard shift while he was always at work or school during the day. "I suppose I shall have dinner alone as per usual." He said when he noticed the sticky note on the television that informed him that there was chili in the fridge. Even if it was little consolation, his mother's chili was some of the best chili he had ever eaten.

After heating up a bowl, he sat back down onto the couch and flipped the television on, surfing through the channels with only a little interest before noticing the documentary on rare plants around the world. "Huh, wasn't botany what Marie was talking about before the cave collapsed?" He remembered that night with a slight smirk appearing on his lips as he took a bite of the chili. It was strange though; even though it had hardly been a week, it felt like the camping trip was easily a month ago.

Right as he settled to watch the documentary, he heard a knock at the door. "Oh dear, who would that be at this time of night?" He asked, opening the door to see the silhouette of Marie Kanker standing on the other side of the door.

"I told you I would be back for my canister," She joked.

"I didn't exactly expect it to be at ten at night though," He laughed and let her in. 'Wait, did I really just let her in this late? Without my parents home?!' His eyes widened as the realization struck him, which he noticed that she was already plopped over onto the couch.

"Hey, you're eating chili?" Marie grinned and scooped up a bite without being bothered to ask. "God, did you make this? It's delicious."

"When I said to make yourself at home, I didn't expect you to be so literal," Edd laughed halfheartedly as he thought of the possible implications that could occur if his mother found out.

"Hey, when someone tells me to be at home when there's a bowl of chili and a documentary about the Blood Orchid, I sure as hell am gonna make myself at home. Are you parents home?" Marie called back at him without taking her eyes off of the television.

"No, they work graveyards..." Edd explained, to which Marie glanced over the back of the couch.

"So you invite a girl into your house? That's ballsy of you, Double D," Marie joked and turned back towards the show. "Do you want me to go?"

'Yes,' Is what Edd almost said, but remembering her face from earlier, he decided against it. He had a feeling that Marie came over for more than just her canister. "No, I invited you in, so I most certainly am not going to send you away so soon."

"Ever the gentleman," Marie chuckled and continued eating the chili. "Did you like the drawing by the way?"

"Wait, there was a drawing in there?" Edd accidentally admitted that he hadn't even looked yet out loud.

"Wow, a pretty girl gives you a gift and you decide to take it for granted? You're not gay, are you? Not that there's anything wrong with that," Marie smirked wickedly back at him from on the other side of the couch.

"No!" Edd half-shouted in response. "Er... I mean I'm going to go get your canister." He grumbled and headed upstairs to his room. 'She knows good and well how I feel about her-' Edd stopped in the middle of the dark upstairs hallway at realizing what he had just thought. "Nope, I'm going to file that in the 'never happened' cabinet."

When Edd returned, he found Marie still sprawled out across the sofa with her shoes lazily kicked across the floor and a half-eaten bowl of chili laying on her stomach. Her glasses were crooked and she looked up lazily at him when she noticed him in front of her. "What? You told me to make myself at home."

Edd just laughed and swatted at her feet to signal for her to move them, letting him join her on the sofa. "So, let's see what you drew me." He commented, popping off the top of the canister and pulling out the rolled up poster board.

"Oh no, don't do it on my account," Marie joked and rolled her eyes.

"Woah." He stared at the drawing with a hint of shock. Although he didn't really see too much behind him, he knew good and well where the drawing was of. "You did this from memory?"

Marie shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose. I usually am pretty good about remembering the small details."

"I mean, this is borderline eidetic," He was still a little in awe, especially when he noticed how much detail was in his own face. Although it wasn't perfect, it was no less impressive because of it.

"Eidetic?"

"Photographic memory," Edd explained as he still examined the picture. "Why is there a lizard on my sleeve?"

"Hm? Oh, I usually put a lizard in my drawings as a kind of signature." She explained and aimlessly poked at her chili with her spoon. "I know, it's a little weird."

"No, I think it's definitely unique, but not bad," He said with a smile and rolled the paper back up, sitting it down onto the table with a goofy smile being plastered onto his face. Although it was such a simple gift, it was still the fact that it was an image of a memory he had with Marie.

"Hey, I just remembered that they're having a horror movie marathon on sci-fi at eleven!" Marie grinned and sat up completely, being careful not to spill the chili. "We need to fucking watch it; they have all of the cheesy classics to the ones that actually had a budget."

"Wait, you mean all night?" Edd was a little taken aback from what she was suggesting.

"Sure, we didn't get to watch those movies the other night, so I thought it was a fun idea. We can just watch like one or two and then call it a night, okay?" She shrugged.

"It's a school night, so I suppose one or two wouldn't hurt..." Edd grimaced a little at the idea but he wanted to try and at least see if she was okay. "I'll go make us popcorn then, would you like a drink?"

"Depends; got any vodka?" She poked her tongue out, but upon seeing Edd's deadpan look she shook her head. "Fine, how about Coke?"

"That, I _can _do," He chuckled a little and grabbed her a can. Even as they sat down to watch the movie, and although she was smiling, he could see a certain hint of something else in her eyes. Not quite fear, but something closely related.

"This is dumb, why in hell would there be a tornado with sharks? I feel like the sequel is going to be Squiddicane or some crap like that," Marie grumbled as the credits rolled for the first movie.

"I think it was meant to be funny," Edd suggested with a shrug. "But yeah, it was a pretty insane concept at best."

"Oh god, the next one is going to really be Bloodsucking Redneck Vampires?" Marie broke down into laughter when the banner popped up on the bottom of the screen that informed them of the next film.

"Dare I ask?" Edd grimaced at even hearing the name.

"Trust me, you _have _to see it to understand," She collapsed onto Edd's shoulder in a fit of laughter. It was a movie that Ed, May, and her had watched before, and it was easily the funniest horror flick she had seen in ages. "This is Mystery Science Theater 3000 quality of movie."

Edd couldn't help but laugh a little with her, but he was more focused on how warm his cheeks had gotten from her leaning against him. 'Easy, Double D, it doesn't mean anything,' He assured himself silently and worked on mentally preparing himself for the undoubted horror of the next movie.

"This is so horrifying, in all of the wrong ways," Edd commented and leaned against the arm of the sofa with a slight smirk on his lips. He was never too big of a fan of these kinds of bad flicks when he watched them with Ed, but they did have a certain comedic value when he had a laughing Marie Kanker sitting next to him. 'It's funnier watching her reactions,' He joked with himself, watching her break out into laughter yet again.

"You really need a better sense of humor," Marie rolled her eyes. "It's _meant_ to be a comedy more than a horror."

"Okay, okay, I'll try to take it at face value," Edd chuckled a little and tried to not take the movie so serious. In the end, he did laugh at a few parts, but he was relieved when he noticed that there was supposed to be a real horror movie coming on next. "See, Jeepers Creepers actually isn't a bad movie."

"You're crazy; there are a million better horror flicks out there," Marie grumbled and leaned against Edd's shoulder with a quiet yawn. "They're supposed to have Rose Red playing afterwords; that's when you'll see a _real _horror movie."

"A Stephen King fan, huh?" Edd looked down at her with his cheeks heating up a little from her warmth against his shoulder. "I have never had the pleasure of seeing it, so we'll just have to see."

"The best kind of horror is the subtle kind," Marie remarked as the next movie began after a few commercials.

While there were moments where they both jumped or squeaked in shock from one scene or another, they made sure to tease each other about it when they could. It wasn't until a commercial during Rose Red that Edd finally decided to ask if she were okay.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Marie looked up at him from her comfortable spot on the pillow she had placed against his shoulder. Although she tried to play it off for a moment, she realized that it was an act in vein, "I'm okay, just a lot of stress caving down on me I guess. Like, with dad and then I had Lee yell at me about hanging out with you the other day; which was complete bullshit. Then I had a visit from an old not-so-much of a friend. It's just a lot to deal with..."

Edd simply stared down into her eyes while she vented about what was happening, and he offered her a nod here or there to show that he was honestly listening. "Sounds like you've been having a rough time... I'm sorry for bringing it up." He sighed quietly when he noticed a hint of pleading in her eyes, as if she wanted to say more but just couldn't bring herself to.

"Thank you, Edd... That's about all that's been going on," She shrugged with the shoulder that wasn't against him and turned back to face the television. "It's whatever though; I'll live." Even though that's what she said, it was obvious as to why she was spending time with him. It was more than just wanting to watch a few movies or get her canister; she needed someone to pull her out of her troubles, even if just for fleeting moments at a time.

"Of course, Marie, what are friends for?" He said idly as he watched the movie. Over time, he found himself shifting slowly in his seat to better accommodate the girl that was leaning against him, and before he knew it, he found her asleep against him towards the end of the movie. Eventually he drifted off himself without realizing that they both still had school the very next day and they had both not only forgotten, but also hadn't managed to sleep until the wee hours of the morning.

* * *

**So, here's a chapter that's a little drawn out with a few cliffhangers here and there, but all in due time. That being said, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	10. Chapter 9 - The Medication

"My little boy is growing up," Edd awoke to the tantalizing scent of bacon and the sound of an all-too-familiar voice that was almost enough to pull him from his bed. _Almost. _ For some strange reason, the warmth of his bed was far more convincing than anything breakfast could muster.

"Leave the boy alone, Ashley," He heard another voice scold the first. "I never thought I'd see the day he actually brought home a girl though."

"Frank, he did it _without _our permission, while we weren't home, and he didn't even clean his dishes." The first voice sounded a little frustrated, but had a certain underlay of both curiosity and disbelief. "Not to mention he's late for school."

"Come now, you remember how we acted at that age. Besides, he already took the tests, so I doubt missing a day will be too much of a problem," The second voice argued with the first, which the sound of the bacon hissing again probably meant he just flipped the strips.

"Fine, I suppose, but I don't want this to become a habit, Frank. He's too smart of a kid to be skipping school," The first voice grumbled. Edd knew good and well that his mother couldn't say no to his father, and thankfully his father was the more 'down to earth' of the two.

'Wait, skipped school?' The sleep quickly started to drain from him the moment her words had sunken in, clearing the haze of drowsiness. When he opened his eyes, he noticed the sleeping face of Marie in front of his. Apparently they had shifted in their sleep and Marie was completely laying on top of him now. 'Huh, she doesn't really look near as violent like this,' Edd thought quietly with a slight smirk appearing on his lips before he realized two key facts that made his cheeks heat up: One, his parents were home and he was caught asleep on the sofa with a girl. Two, he realized that he had a certain issue that came as a curse to the male anatomy upon waking up... And Marie was laying right on top of it.

'For the love of Tesla, why me?' Edd slowly tried to wiggle free from Marie, only to completely freeze up the moment she started to stir. Those two blue eyes fluttered open and back closed for a moment before opening again, and once he focused into her vision, the corners of her lips turned upwards.

"So much for only a few movies," She joked and slowly sat up, stretching and sending several pops through her shoulders, neck, and spine. "Cooking bacon for breakfast?" She asked before realizing that he was trapped underneath her, to which she slowly turned her head to see two blurs standing in the kitchen. "Oh, good morning?" She offered an awkward smile and reached blindly for her glasses that slid off into the floor.

"Mornin'," The man replied with a knowing smirk on his lips. "Want some breakfast, you two?"

Edd wore a look of complete and utter horror, but Marie giggled a little and nodded, "Breakfast sounds great, thank you." When he laughed and walked back into the kitchen with his wife, Marie turned to face Edd and poked her tongue out. "You might want to calm down there, Muffin. We're still just friends, so don't get _too_ excited." With that cruel joke and a blatantly intentional application of her weight to a certain area, she stood up and made her way into the kitchen.

'I officially just want to disappear,' Edd couldn't remember the last time he had such an awkward awakening; this even topped that time he woke up with Ed's armpit in his face. It took him until his mother came back out to see if he was awake to actually accrue him enough willpower to start the day.

With a 'good job' from his dad and his mother expressing her disbelief still, Marie and Edd ate with a hint of awkwardness between the two of them, although Marie handled it with humor instead of silence like their son had. "Make sure to head to school whenever you two are done," Edd's mom turned to face the two teenagers before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs to her room to sleep after her long night at work.

"You two don't have to go to school, just make sure that _she _doesn't see you skipping, Eddward," His father laughed heartily and gave the two a firm pat on the back. "Good night you two, I need to snooze after working all damned night; we got stuck with overtime so it was a long one."

"'Night," Marie waved halfheartedly before turning his attention back to Edd. "Your parents are pretty chill."

"Yeah, you don't have to live with mother," Edd groaned a little and walked over to the sink to wash off the dishes from last night and their breakfast. "She can't stand to have anything out of order. There's a reason I used to be so neurotic." He shuddered upon remembering how he _had _to label everything in the house and how he _had _to be clean at every waking moment.

"I suppose, your dad seems to kind of be the opposite of her though," Marie decided to bring her plate to the sink for Edd, but she sure as hell had no plans to help him out in cleaning.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Not that it's bad though; he's always helped me out when I got into trouble with mother," Edd smiled fondly at a few of the memories that were dug up; namely ones involving failed scams and especially the one where he walked cross-state to find Eddy's brother.

"_You_, get into trouble?" Marie scoffed at the very notion. "Here I thought you were Mister Perfect."

"Don't you remember all of those scams I used to pull?" Edd twisted his neck to raise a brow at Marie.

"I remember the scams that _Eddy _used to pull, and I remember how you got dragged along," She laughed. "To this day, I still have no idea how you ever managed to be friends with him."

"Honestly? I'm not even sure sometimes, but I'm glad that we have grown out of that. There were a few times that I honestly thought he was going to wind up in prison." Edd's shoulders drooped at a few of those memories. Especially the one that put him in the hospital because of the car scam Eddy tried to pull. That was the day that Eddy decided he would quit dragging him into his plans, and soon after decided to give up on scamming altogether.

"Well, I'm glad he didn't; I think Lee would kick his ass," Marie giggled and stood back up from her spot at the table. "Hey, can I use your bathroom to freshen up a little?"

"Hm? Oh, of course, it's the third door on the right upstairs; I should also have a spare toothbrush in the top left drawer," Edd informed her, to which Marie laughed.

"Don't worry, I brought my toothbrush," She said and pulled out a little black travel bag from the leg pocket of her cargo pants.

As Edd watched her turn and leave upstairs, he felt his cheeks heat up at the realization that Marie's staying the night was as far flung from an accident as they come. "She's good," He smiled to himself and turned his attention back to the dishes, wanting to finish them before Marie made it back from the restroom.

* * *

"Hey, your dad said we couldn't hang around your house, he said nothing about mine," Marie joked and flopped down onto her sofa with a loud, relieved sigh. "God, it's hot as balls outside; this is why I like the winter."

"I do admit that it's a little warm," Edd agreed in a more subtle manner, sitting down at the other end of her sofa, which Marie almost immediately plopped her feet down onto his lap. "You could at least take your shoes off, you know."

"Too lazy," She shook her head, having her glasses pushed up away from her eyes so her arm could lazily lay across it. "We only had four hours of sleep last night before your parents woke me up with bacon and eggs."

"Are you complaining?" Edd joked, to which she let out a groan and shook her head lazily. He couldn't help but laugh a little to himself at how cute her reaction was; not to mention how much it was just _her_. 'What are you thinking, Eddward?' He scolded himself again for even having those thoughts.

"Edd, take my shoes off," She demanded lazily, kicking her feet up and down against his lap gently with motions akin to a child throwing a tantrum.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were lazy," Edd deadpanned.

"Four hours, Double D, four hours!" She exclaimed before pressing her foot against her other foot's hill, sliding her shoe off halfway and flailing her leg to try and lose the dangling annoyance.

"Fine," Edd chuckled a little, helping her pull off the loose shoe, having her do the same thing with the other before he would help there as well. "For the record though, I'll have you know that I have had just as much sleep and I'm doing perfectly well."

"Good for you," She grumbled and sat her glasses onto the side table with her free hand that wasn't being used to block the sunlight. With a lazy groan, she shifted to get comfortable before informing Edd of her important decision: "I'm going to take a nap, help yourself to the fridge if you get hungry."

"On the couch?" Edd smirked.

"My bed's so far away," She grumbled again. "Besides, it'd be rude to just leave you out here."

'But sleeping is perfectly acceptable?' Edd thought to himself and chuckled a little. "Alright, alright, would you like for me to wake you up?"

"I doubt you could wake me up if you blew up a firecracker right by my head," Marie laughed and visibly relaxed as she tried to drift off to sleep.

'I figured such,' Edd thought and slid out from underneath her feet to grab a drink. When he opened the fridge though, he was appalled by the sheer amount of beer bottles and cans that littered the fridge; some of which were even open. "Good lord." Somehow he figured that's how the Kanker's house would be though; however, when he looked around the kitchen in general, the trailer was actually surprisingly clean. Sure, there were stains or an occasional pile of trash, but it honestly wasn't as trashed as he had expected. Despite being in the trailer several times throughout his childhood, and even recently, he never truly took the time to look at it.

After settling on a can of Mountain Dew, he made his way back to the living room only to find Marie was true to her word, being borderline comatose as she slept. He lifted her legs by the ankles and positioned himself back in his spot on the sofa; although they were a pretty big family, they only had a sofa and one recliner in the living room, which the recliner had a paper taped to it that claimed it as Lee's.

It took him about an hour before he decided that Marie probably wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, and the soda had proved to move right through him, so he slipped back out of the living room in order to find the bathroom. When he stumbled down the hallway, he realized just how much of an anomaly the trailer really was. While he always thought that it looked bigger on the inside, the fact that there was a kitchen, living room, hallway, 3 bedrooms, and a bathroom had proven to be nigh impossible. He walked into the bathroom, which he immediately noticed that the bath, floor, and even the counter was littered with bras, underwear, and clothes.

"You can really tell that five girls are living here," He grimaced and decided to brave what was easily a pervert's dream.

Coming out of the bathroom, he noticed that one door in particular was open slightly, which against his better judgment, had caught his curiosity. Peeking into it was clearly May's room; mostly because she was the only sister that would possibly have stuffed animals littering her bed.

"Having fun?" He felt the chill of the grave roll up his spine when he heard Marie's voice from behind him with a hint of sarcasm and anger.

"O-Oh Marie, I just noticed it was open and-" He was cut off by a swift, but gentle punch to the ribs that caused him to double over.

"Retribution has been served," She said smugly before opening the door. "Come on in, sorry about the mess. I had to make room for the futon when Penny moved in."

Edd stood up, rubbing his bruised ribs and followed her into her lair. The stuffed animals made more sense though, as he could see the clean divide in the center of the room that went from band posters and posters of cars to a futon with bright colored blankets. "Sorry about looking; I suppose it was a little too much." He apologized and took the spot on her bed that she patted out.

"It's fine, you got what you deserved," She shrugged and opened her closet, which was sealed off from the rest of the room by a blanket hanging over the doorway. "Let's see; it's supposed to be warm today, so I doubt my cargo pants are a good idea."

"It's _always _warm during the summer," Edd commented and leaned back against the wall, looking around the room a little more. Although he half-expected Marie's room to look like this, it did have a certain hint of femininity to it that he couldn't quite place; probably no small part due to Penny, but the fact that Marie had a Diary sitting on her writing desk with her name emblazoned into the leather cover hadn't helped the case.

"True, but I want to wear shorts," She shrugged and pulled out a pair of basketball shorts and a white tank top. "I'll be right back." With that, she made her way into the bathroom to change.

"What happened here?" Edd said to himself when he noticed a lamp broken against the far wall with a shattered light bulb inside of it. While the glass appeared to have been swept up, it still stood out from the piles of clothes that littered the rest of the room. Before he could think too hard on it though, Marie returned with her change of clothes.

"Much better; I love those pants, but they're hot as balls," Marie grumbled and motioned with her hand. "Let's go out and play at the arcade or something; I hate standing around for too long."

Edd thought about it for a moment and nodded, "Walking around the mall sounds fun, so sure."

With that, Edd found himself in Marie's truck, off to enjoy his rebellious day of skipping school; which Marie threatened to hit him if he even thought about going. Although it was a simple day, they spent it browsing a few stores, eating a nice lunch at some new Chinese restaurant in the food court, and getting scolded by security for clearly skipping school; which Edd took rather poorly until Marie punched him again.

* * *

Marie smiled as she plopped over onto her bed with her diary in one hand and her pen in her left. After a long, uneventful, but fun day, she was ready to just wind down and relax. She looked over to see Penny relaxing on her futon and reading what was undoubtedly some romance book; not that Marie hated romance novels, but she would never admit to reading them.

"So, how was your day skipping school?" Penny asked casually as the thumbed over to the next page.

"Fun, me and Double D ended up spending time at the mall," She smiled as she fiddled with the lock on her diary to pop it open; she had lost the key a long time ago, so she had to pick the lock each time she wanted to write in it.

"Wait, I thought he _never _missed school? At least, that's what Lee said," She glanced over at her sister and rested her open book against her lap.

"What can I say? I'm a bad influence," Marie joked and thumbed through her diary to find a clean page to write on.

"I think you're a little crazy, Marie. I mean, you know what he did and yet you're still being friends with him?" Penny started to scold her sister before she noticed the uneasy look on her face. "You _are _just friends, right?" When Marie didn't answer, Penny just opened her mouth for a moment before standing up and closing the door. "Really, Marie?! You're fucking dating?!"

"I- No, we aren't dating," Marie answered quietly, keeping her gaze away from her sister. "It's just that I'm... Not so sure how I feel about him anymore. Spending time with him just reminded me how smart he is and how funny he can be; well, when he tries. God, he's horrible at taking punches though."

"Marie, no." Penny said flatly and sat back down onto her bed. "I don't care how you feel on this, but you just can't fall for the guy that caused all of _this _to happen! You need to tell Dr. White tomorrow about this and let him talk sense into you at least."

"All of _what_? It's not like he made me do anything that wasn't going to happen anyway! Sure, he sped it up, but you know as well as I do that I was eventually going to need to see someone," Marie huffed and slammed her diary shut. "Look, we're still just friends and I'm being careful, but I need you to just support me for once! God, I supported you when you told mom and dad about you wanting to take those hormones."

"The hormone pills didn't scream at me for having feelings for them!" Penny growled. "You're a genius, and yet you can be so stupid sometimes. I mean, being friends is one thing, but if you fall for him again, I don't want to see you get rejected and fall back into depression again."

"Yes, I _am _a genius, and yet _you_ don't trust _my _judgment? It's not like I'm making wedding plans or some crap like that, I'm just trying to be friends," Marie growled and jumped up, pulling out her bag from underneath her bed and heading straight for the closet.

"Where are you going?" Penny stared in shock at her sister's abrupt movement.

"I'm going to spend the night at one of my friend's house, because at least they won't scream at me for making more friends," Marie hissed back and walked to her door. "Why do you have to care so fucking much?" She asked with a wry expression that was clearly aimed to try and hide the sorrow in her eyes.

* * *

Marie found herself walking back towards Edd's house yet again at ten at night, but it was thankfully Friday this time, so they wouldn't have an awkward awakening from his parents. "God, I love Penny to death, but she's so fucking nosy sometimes."

"Going to Eddward's again?" Marie wasn't even phased this time when she heard _him _behind her yet again. He seemed to just have this strange power to always show up at the worst times. "That's a bad idea. He's suspicious and you know it."

"Let him be suspicious," Marie grumbled.

"You need to hide the proof," She heard a woman say; yet another person she didn't miss.

"Shut up, maybe he needs to know," Marie shrugged and continued towards the cul-de-sac with a wry frown.

"He's going to yell and you know it, stupid," The man spoke again, laying his hand on Marie's shoulder.

"Just piss off, both of you!" Marie groaned.

"Just hide it, you know you have to or he'll find out!" The woman reiterated her point. "If he knows, then it'll be trouble. Your sisters know too, and they already are causing problems."

"Did you know that Coffee Co. has the number one GPA of all corporations in the coffee industry?" Another man chimed in from in front of Marie, probably hiding behind a bush as usual.

"You all are fucking insane, you know that? Especially you," Marie sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose for the oncoming headache. "You know what? Fine, I'll hide the damned thing, just leave me alone you assholes."

"About time, you are always so worthless," The woman groaned as Marie finally caved in.

"I'm not worthless, so fuck off!" Marie half shouted in argument before fishing the box out her bag and heading towards the junkyard to her usual hiding place with the three people tailing along. No matter how many times they insisted it, she was _not _worthless and she certainly _was _better than them.

* * *

Edd was once again home alone, waiting for the pizza that he ended up ordering to quell his appetite from the lack of dinner. While he had some fun that day, he was just glad to finally wind down after a few hours of work; especially since it was the weekend and he was able to actually spend time with his parents after tonight.

"Still nothing on," Edd groaned as he flipped through the channels to help tide him over until the delivery driver showed up. As if his wish had been granted though, he heard a knock on his door. 'Thank goodness,' Edd put on his best smile and grabbed his wallet, but when he opened the door, he was met once again with the silhouette of a girl he's come to know by heart. "Oh, h-hello Marie."

Although he half-expected her to show up again sometime, he wasn't expecting it to be so soon. When he invited her in, he found himself floored from a tackle-hug that had her face buried into his shirt; one that almost sent him back to their childhood, but this was different. He could feel warmth soak into his shirt; 'Is she crying?!' Edd thought to himself with wide eyes, but he slowly brought his arms around her to try and comfort her. "A-Are you okay?" He asked, but he didn't get a response as she just let out what sounded like a scream of rage and sorrow against his ribs.

Before he could ask the question again, she looked up at him with two blue eyes that glistened from the tears that streaked her cheeks, smearing her eyeliner across her face. To see _Marie Kanker _in tears was a rarity at best, let alone seeing her cling to someone for comfort. "M-Marie..." Edd frowned and gently petted the back of her head, unsure of what to even say. He was always terrible at comforting someone, and Marie was no exception. Before he could say anything else, his lips were met with the forceful kiss of the Kanker. It wasn't soft or loving, but it was one of desperation and need. It tasted of tears and fresh tobacco, which put Edd into a daze as she clumsily stole his breath.

"Please, Double D... Just... Please," She whispered with a raspy voice before kissing him again harshly, but this time, Edd was a little more prepared and tried his best to return the kiss. It was clumsy on both of their parts, mostly because Edd hadn't kissed anyone since Sarah, so he knew he was a little out of practice.

"Marie..." Edd panted as they both took a moment to catch their breath, but what he saw was something that made him completely freeze up. Marie leaned back and slammed the door shut, but it only took her a moment to pull her tank top over her head and toss it aside. Although he had seen her like this before in the bath house, this was different; it wasn't an accident and it most certainly didn't have the innocence behind it. No, Marie's gaze was seductive and fixated on Edd with an almost predatory appearance to it.

"Shh, just... please..." Marie whispered again, leaning down and kissing him once more with an almost feral force behind it. Edd didn't even notice when his hands drifted up to the sides of the girl on top of him, and as he slowly rubbed her back he felt a fire burn in his chest.

All of the logic had fled what was once his brain and was replaced by hormones, and at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to feel Marie against him. Although he and Sarah hadn't ever done anything more than making out, he tried his best to appease Marie and worked to unhook her bra for a moment before she laughed quietly. "Having trouble?" She joked and sat up, unhooking it, but holding up the front of the bra with a sly grin.

Edd this time took the initiative and sat up; which Marie was slightly taller than him when she sat astride on his lap, but he used it to his advantage and pressed the assault against the Kanker's neck with a slow, gentle, but playful bite that elicited a moan from her.

It only lasted a moment though, before Edd felt the tears patter against the top of his head, and Marie slumped against him with whimpers that he thought impossible to ever hear from her of all people. They weren't tears like they were moments ago, but they were new, as if something broke inside of her that came with her trembling against him. "I'm so sorry, Marie..." Edd murmured, not even sure what she was going through, but wanted to let her know either way. He just slowly wrapped his arms back around her and pulled her close into a hug.

With what was moments ago, passion, it had been replaced by sincere fear and sorrow for the girl in front of him. She didn't come to him for something so physical as sex, but she came to him for comfort, and he felt so stupid for not seeing that sooner. "Shh... I promise it's okay..." He murmured softly, feeling her arms wrap around his head and pull him into her chest, not even caring how it looked as the tears just streamed down her cheeks again.

"I didn't mean to, Edd..." She mumbled and slumped down. "I didn't mean to come here and just push my troubles on you..." Her entire body was trembling from something far more than just the cold air.

"It's okay, just calm down and tell me about it..." Edd offered and gently petted the back of her head as he leaned back to pull her closer into a warm embrace. Although it was a simple gesture, it was enough to let Marie finally fall asleep after an hour of tears and apologies for something he didn't quite understand. Although it wasn't easy, he did thank how heavily Marie could sleep, because he managed to get her up to his room despite the dead weight. 'Last thing I need is mother walking in on us like _that_,' He joked quietly to himself and tucked her in, pulling out the cot for himself from his closet.

* * *

Penny on the other hand had finally gotten out of the shower and fully dressed into her pajamas, and it wasn't until she came back into her room that she noticed the orange pill bottle that sat on Marie's shelf. "God, she knows to take these with her," She groaned before noticing something peculiar about the bottle in specific though, and upon closer examination, she needed to call for her step-sister. "Lee, can you come in here?"

She heard Lee grumble some profanity, but she made her way into the bedroom of her sisters, "Yeah, I was getting' my beauty rest, whadda you want?"

"How long has Marie been out of these?" Penny asked and motioned towards the empty bottle.

"I think she told mom to refill them a while back," Lee said with a concerned frown appearing on her face.

"Well, then we have a problem, because I don't think she's been taking her meds," Penny grimaced and dropped the bottle onto her sister's bed.

"Shit." Lee grumbled and walked towards her mother's room with a wry frown.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuunnnn. So, yeah, shit's getting a little hectic don't you know? Marie having some of her friend/enemy/gang-thing bug her again, she made the moves on Double D, and she's out of meds. That being said, okay, so I know this chapter had some er... moments in it. After all, it is rated M, but that being said, don't expect in-depth descriptions or hot-and-heavy sex scenes. This is M, not MA.**

** So yeah, things are starting to hit the fan. Anyway, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	11. Chapter 10 - The Psychological Profile

Edd smiled as he cleaned up the kitchen from the morning mess. When he woke up, Marie was actually in the kitchen with his parents, helping them prepare breakfast. While he had initially been looking forward to try food cooked by Marie, he learned something completely surprising though: Marie's cooking was beyond words. No, not even in a good way, it was so bad that he literally couldn't find the words to describe the atrocity that befell the kitchen.

He will never forget the apologetic pat on the back that his father gave him as he whispered a fearful 'good luck' into his ear before retreating to his bedroom. Not once had Edd ever thought honestly about the possibility of eating pure charcoal, but he had his answer when the eggs literally turned to ash in his mouth.

"It wouldn't have even been bad if she wasn't so proud of it either," Edd shuddered when he remembered how she actually devoured the food like if it were prepared by the best chefs that the world had to offer. That was when he started to realize that the main reason the Kanker kitchen must have been clean is that if all of the Kankers cooked like that, then they must only eat out.

"But she's still so cute," Edd murmured while scrubbing one of the plates before closing his eyes in resignation at what he was thinking. No matter how he went about it and no matter how much he denied it, he was well aware that he was falling for the single girl that he shouldn't.

Just as he silently admitted it to himself, May's words popped up into his head again, "_Be her friend, but don't go after her._" He knew she was right, but it was starting to become an issue. What had started as a begrudged alliance to escape a bad situation, it had evolved into a full on friendship. It was true, though, he was spending more time with her than he was even with Eddy or Ed.

"Maybe that's what I should do today," He decided with a slight smile appearing on his face. It was Saturday, he didn't have work, and he wanted to have a good time with his childhood friends like he should. As he finished his dishes, he went upstairs to brush his teeth and get dressed, which he decided on his now-favored black beanie that Marie had given him, as well as a red shirt and blue jeans. "Simple, but practical, Eddward." He said with a smile, returning downstairs to grab his keys and shoes.

_ Thud._

Edd turned to face the door at the loud noise, and as he started towards it to see what had happened, another heavy thud hit against the door, followed by a girl yelping in pain. The third time was far more than a thud though, as the door swung open from the sheer force of what was apparently a May battering ram that was wielded by none other than Lee Kanker.

"Good lord, haven't you people ever heard of knocking?!" Edd half shouted as he noticed the wreckage of the broken door frame. Lee just smirked with a cigar hanging out of her mouth as she dropped her sister onto the ground, eliciting another yelp of pain from the blond.

"I thought you were joking when you said you'd use May to break the door down," Penny said with wide-eyes at the sight she had just witnessed before walking into the house. "Good morning by the way, Eddward."

"Can it, Penny, we're here for _you_," Lee explained with a sudden grab to Edd's ankles, pulling him over onto his back and dragging him forcibly out of the house.

"Please Lee, there's so much bacteria on the ground!" His pleas only turned into pained yelps as he hit the pavement, which proceeded to scratch up his back all of the way to the trailer park.

* * *

The morning passed without any complications, and surprisingly no questions from Edd's parents this time around; which Marie assumed that his dad made his mother relax about the whole ordeal since the last time she had stayed the night. For the first time in months though, she had a horrible night of sleep; there was just so much going on in her head. While Edd had apparently managed to get her into a bed, she kept waking up in the middle of the night and she eventually just decided against trying to sleep, although it didn't stop her from laying in the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"I need to see Dr. White," She said to herself with a strange focus on her walk; she had never noticed how natural it comes to humans to just take one step and then another. So many thoughts were racing through her head that it almost started to hurt; what she honestly wanted to do was just work on cars, but she wasn't scheduled until after school on Monday.

"Don't, he'll poison you," The seemingly ever-present man informed her.

"Coffee Co. coffee is the best coffee, no other coffee tastes as delicious as Coffee Co. brand coffee."

"I wouldn't go back home," The woman of the group chimed in. "They'll be waiting for you."

"Shut up, shut up, just shut up!" Marie screamed outwards, not initially paying attention to the passers by as they shot her weird glances. "Wait, are they watching me?" She raised her brow and skimmed over each other their faces; all of them looked so familiar, had she seen them following her before?

"Run, they're onto us, stupid!" The woman hissed and pushed Marie into a sprint, having the others trail behind at top speed.

Why did the sidewalk suddenly feel so crowded as she passed? There were people everywhere and they just wouldn't stop staring. "Go the hell away!" Marie shouted and clenched her fists, causing the entire crowd to almost instantly turn away out of fear of the infamous Kanker wrath. Such a nice morning ended with being some kind of show for Peach Creek, and she certainly wasn't going to allow it.

"What should I do?!" She half-screamed at the man behind her with a wry expression. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweaty; she hadn't felt this anxious since she came back to Peach Creek, and it made her just want to break down into tears. 'Why does this shit always happen when _they _come around?! I'm not a part of them.'

"Dig it up, it's time to dig it up," He informed her and put his hand onto her shoulder.

"Coffee Co. gives coffee to its employees twelve times a day to keep them from ever having to sleep, allowing them to work endlessly."

"I can't dig it up!" Marie hissed, not ever wanting to see that briefcase again. "I refuse to fucking dig it up."

"Do it, or they'll find the drugs, stupid. Don't be worthless and do it," The woman growled at Marie, causing her heart to pound harder in her chest.

"Your panic attack is all in your head," Another man chimed in. "Panic attacks do not exist, so stand up and do what needs to be done."

"Fine, I'll fucking dig up your god damn briefcase!" Marie shouted and swung at the group in fury. "Just fucking leave me alone after I'm done!"

Panicking and more pissed than ever, she made her way to her house to grab a shovel. She was in this for the long haul, and it wasn't certainly wasn't how she anticipated spending her Saturday.

* * *

"Alright, sit down," Lee commanded and threw the battered Edd into a kitchen chair, taking the seat on the opposite side of the table, intertwining her fingers, resting her elbows on the table, and laying her chin against her hands. "We're going to have a talk."

"A talk?! Is that what you call breaking into my parent's home forcibly and abducting me?!" Edd half-shouted from a combination of the throbbing pain in his back and anger at the whole situation.

"Shut up! It's important, and it's about Marie." Lee snarled and took a deep puff of her cigar. It actually almost seemed like she actually inhaled the smoke into her lungs with the amount that she exhaled, and not a single sign of coughing was shown.

"W-What about Marie?" Edd shuddered and covered his nose in an attempt to hide from the strong scent of tobacco that filled the room.

"Do you love her?" Lee said with what Edd assumed was a glare that could kill him, but her hair hiding her eyes may just be making him paranoid.

Edd looked over at the two sisters who were standing against the far wall with a pleading look, only to have his arm punched to pull his attention back to Lee. Which he rubbed his arm painfully for a moment before stuttering out some semblance of an answer that came out sounding like a question, "I-I just m-maybe?"

"No, tell me yes or no flat out with no explanation and you better not fucking lie. This is something that Marie may very well depend on," Lee grimaced and offered him one more chance to answer properly.

"Yes, but-"

"I said no explanations." Lee snapped at him before taking on a look of deep contemplation for a moment before offering Edd a slight smile. "Why?"

"Pardon?" Edd raised his brow.

"Why do you love my sister?" Lee took another puff of her cigar before extinguishing it into the ash tray beside her.

"B-Because of who she is... I think she's beautiful, funny, artistic, and intelligent," Edd said with a nervous twiddle of his thumbs, but the answer thankfully seemed to appease Lee, albeit only a little.

"Tell me, after what you said to her, what makes you think you deserve to even love her?" Lee grimaced again, looking as if she could stab Edd at any moment.

"I don't... Honestly, that's why I haven't said anything to her. May was right when she said I shouldn't try to be more," Edd finally calmed down enough to stop stuttering, but his voice was still trembling like if he were in an Earthquake.

"Good, but if I had it my way, you wouldn't even be friends. Lucky for you though, it's not my choice, and Marie for some god forsaken reason still loves you," Lee's nose wrinkled a little, as if to signal her disgust with her own words. "Listen up, Sockhead, do you really think you would be with her down the road, no matter what you find out about her?"

"No, but that's because I can't see the future, Lee. I know I want to try my best if she would have me, but I honestly can't guarantee what will happen down the road, or even if she decided to break up with me," Edd was honest, which Lee had apparently taken well, because she visibly relaxed at his words. "What I _do _know though, is that I'm willing to do my best to make her happy and I want to be with her as long as I can."

"May," Lee turned towards her sister, who immediately tensed up.

"Yes?"

"Go grab the lock box from under mom's bed," She commanded with a nod of her head towards said bedroom.

"The lock- Wait, you don't mean the one with those papers? What the hell are you thinking, Lee?!" Penny actually raised her voice to the eldest Kanker for once in her life. She was notoriously quiet about voicing her opinion usually, so it actually made Lee freeze up briefly.

"Look, he needs to know the score if he's going to play the game," Lee explained and grabbed the large gray lock box from May's hands, dropping it onto the table and facing Edd again. "What I'm about to show you does _not _leave this room, or I swear I will rip your arms off. You need to know something about Marie if you're going to try and be there for her."

Edd just nodded anxiously and watched Lee open the aforementioned box and dig through it for a moment before pulling out a manilla folder with several papers sticking out of it. She laid it in front of him, but held her hand on it for a moment as she spoke, "These are from the end of freshman year; you remember when Marie went to Florida to spend time with her dad?"

"Yeah," Edd nodded and opened the folder, taking a moment to read what was on the first sheet: _ Admission Form for Sunnyways Psychiatric Hospital_.

* * *

_Name of Patient: Marie Louise Kanker_

_Birth: February 25, [Data Expunged]_

_Age: 14_

_Sex: Female_

_Date of Admission [Data Expunged]_

_Contact Persons: Francine Kanker, Thomas Newton_

_Primary Reason For Admission: Attempted suicide and other severe self-harm_

_Known Conditions: Bipolar Disorder, Type I_

_Drug/Alcohol Use: N/A_

_Special Precautions: Required surveillance to prevent attempts at self-harm._

* * *

Edd eyed over the paper before looking back up to Lee, "How did you even get these?"

"The doctor said something about 'doctor-patient confident' bullshit, but mom's pretty persuasive," Normally one would assume that meant it was acquired through seduction, but considering the Kanker's, Edd could only imagine the threats that their mother must have made to make him give up the papers. "He still blacked out a lot of shit, but we know what's up with sis at least."

Edd nodded and turned to the next page, noticing the title: _ Audio Transcripts between Marie Kanker and Dr. Oswald Smith_.

* * *

_Date & Time: [Data Expunged]_

_Smith: So Marie, do you know why you're here?_

_Kanker: No, and I want to go home._

_Smith: You're here because you attempted to cut open your wrists, and we're here to help you._

_Kanker: I don't need help, I'm perfectly fine._

_Smith: Then let me just ask you a few questions, if you really don't need help, then we'll definitely not keep you. Can you do that? Can you just answer a few questions for me?_

_Kanker: If it means I can go home, sure._

_Smith: How long have you been thinking about suicide, Marie?_

_Kanker: I don't know, a few months maybe._

_Smith: I see, did something happen that pushed you over the edge into deciding to actually do it?_

_Kanker: I... I had an argument with my boyfriend. He yelled at me._

_Smith: This boyfriend, did he often yell at you or abuse you?_

_Kanker: Double D? No, he's always super sweet; I mean, we play fight a lot, but it's never serious._

_Smith: That's good, are you and this Double D still dating?_

_Kanker: Oh yes, he loves me and I love him, after all._

_Smith: So the argument was just too much, was there anything else that may have helped cause the attempt?_

_Kanker: I... No._

_Smith: Are you sure, you seemed hesitant?_

_Kanker: It's nothing, can I just go home now?_

_Smith: Alright Marie, the guard outside the door will take you to your room, I'll have to decide what to do here soon._

_Kanker: But you said I could go home!_

_Smith: I said potentially, I need to make sure that you are cleared._

_Addendum-I: I asked Francine Kanker about her boyfriend, and she informed me that Marie had never had a boyfriend. She also informed me that there was a boy by the same nickname that Marie often harassed and pretended they were dating. Possible delusions? I will investigate further._

* * *

_Date & Time: [Data Expunged]_

_Smith: You've been here for two weeks now, how have you been adjusting, Marie?"_

_Kanker: You're really asking me that? The food's shit here and my roommate smells like cheese._

_Smith: I agree the mashed potatoes are a little dry, aren't they?_

_Kanker: The tater tots are undercooked too! I mean, it takes real talent to actually turn my favorite food into something nasty._

_Smith: Trust me, when I tried to tell the cook about that, she put mustard in my macaroni and cheese for a week._

_Kanker: [laughs] Yeah._

_Smith: So Marie, I do have a question though. Your roommate told me that you were talking to someone a few nights ago, may I ask who?_

_Kanker: I... I was just thinking out loud._

_Smith: She informed me that it sounded more like a conversation. Please don't be nervous, anything you tell me doesn't leave this room._

_Kanker: God damn it... No, I can't tell you about them._

_Smith: Them?_

_Kanker: Shut up! No, look, I'm fine._

_Smith: Marie, there's no reason to yell._

_Kanker: I wasn't telling you to shut up, I meant... Fucking hell, can I just go back now?_

_Smith: One more question then, how has been making friends around here been?_

_Kanker: It hasn't, but I don't really care. I don't really need friends._

_Smith: Alright Marie, you can head back to your room._

_Addendum-I: Marie seemed to be disoriented and potentially hearing something speak to her, I will investigate further in case other psychotic symptoms are present. When I asked Francine Kanker, she informed me that Marie has always had an active imagination._

_Addendum-II: I will also help Marie form social bonds with the others here._

* * *

_Accident Report_

_Individuals Involved: Marie Louise Kanker_

_Incident Category: Self-Harm_

_Description: Marie managed to sneak a fork from the cafeteria and cut into her stomach with it, insisting that there was something crawling around inside of her. She was successfully restrained without being sedated, but she was put into a straight jacket for a week to ensure no other attempts at self harm occur as she settles down._

_Addendum-I: Potentially induced by somatic hallucinations, I will ask Marie about it._

_Addendum-II: Marie admitted that she had no idea why she had done it, but she truly believed that there was something inside of her._

* * *

_Date & Time: [Data Expunged]_

_Smith: It's been how many months now, Marie?_

_Kanker: Four._

_Smith: True, and I've been watching you grow in here and I've noticed a few things._

_Kanker: Like what?_

_Smith: Marie, you don't always hear the voices, do you?_

_Kanker: We've been over this, they are only around sometimes._

_Smith: You also definitely have proven to be relatively bipolar, which I've prescribed you with a mood stabilizer, which how is that working?_

_Kanker: I kind of felt emotionless for a little while, but I'm feeling better now._

_Smith: Marie, do tell me, have you had these hallucinations with this medicine?_

_Kanker: I... Yes._

_Smith: Really? What if I told you that I may be able to help with medication for that._

_Kanker: I'd ask why you didn't do it before._

_Smith: Because I wanted to see how you took to the mood stabilizers, but I think I may be able to help you, and if it works, then we may be able to get you out of here._

_Kanker: God, about time. I don't care if it's a fucking suppository if it gets me out of this loony bin._

_Smith: Marie, you know how I feel about you calling the hospital that._

_Kanker: Sorry, did you need anything else?_

_Smith: No, I believe I may just need to study your case a little more to ensure I match you with the right medication._

_Addendum-I: All criteria have been met. I believe her bipolar disorder may have been misdiagnosed, I will investigate further, but Marie may potentially be Schizoaffective._

_Addendum-II: Marie has taken well to the Risperidone, having only one intense psychotic fit since starting to take it, although she reports the occasional minor hallucination, they are no longer so intense that they distract her from her daily life._

* * *

_Date & Time: [Data Expunged]_

_Smith: You've been here for six months, Marie, and you look so much better. Have you had any bad episodes lately?_

_Kanker: No actually, I've been feeling a lot better. Except it made me constipated for a fucking week. Just saying, that wasn't fun._

_Smith: I told you I was sorry about the side effects, but it's good that you're feeling better. I've actually been monitoring you pretty closely and I decided on something I think you'd enjoy._

_Kanker: They finally are going to cook the tater tots better?_

_Smith: No, sadly, but I have been thinking about signing a release form to let you live with your parents again. Now, before you get too excited, there's going to be some requirements though. I want you to keep taking your medicine, and I will inform your mother and father about this, and I want you to go a therapist at least once every week to follow up with how you're adjusting._

_Kanker: But I'd be going back to Peach Creek, I won't be able to see you._

_Smith: Well, I do have a number for a good colleague of mine that actually lives in Strawberry Falls, I can give your mother his number and see if he's good for you._

_Kanker: Fine, but am I really finally going to get out of this dump?_

_Smith: Well, hospitals are for people who need help, and if you're doing better with the medication, then I think you've been helped._

_Kanker: God, about time! I'm going to go pack, well, not really, because I have nothing to pack, but god, I'm going to go call my sisters!_

_Addendum-I: I decided to release Marie under the conditions stated above, and I have informed Dr. Malcolm White about me potentially sending him a patient and will send him the case files if Marie decides for him to be her psychologist._

* * *

"Are these real documents?" Edd stared at the papers for a moment before setting them down. Marie had always been adamant about them being a couple, but he never thought she truly felt like they were, and he certainly didn't realize the detrimental effects that had happened due to his actions.

"Are you crying?" Penny asked from across the room with a slight frown.

Edd slowly reached up an touched his face. It was definitely wet, and he knew why: She almost killed herself because of what he said, and yet she still forgave him. It started to make sense about how she used to act, but one thing bugged him, "If she was delusional, why did you two go after Ed and Eddy?"

"Because Marie said to?" Lee shrugged. "We were kids, and it was just a game back then. Hell, even we didn't know how serious Marie was."

"Schizophrenia and bipolar both run in dad's side of the family, so I doubt they would have it," Penny waved her hand casually from across the room with her explanation. "We just always assumed she was bipolar, I don't think she actually started seeing things until she got older."

"Why are you showing me these?" Edd looked across the three sisters.

"Because you need to know if you're going to date my little sister," Lee stated bluntly and collected the papers, placing them back into the box. "That, and because we need your help in finding her."

"Finding her?" Edd raised a brow. "She came over to my house last night, but left this morning."

"You didn't touch her, did you?" Lee grinned threateningly, but when Edd shook his head fervantly out of fear, she lightened up. "No, the problem is that Marie hasn't been taking her meds, and the last time this shit happened, she ended up running away from home."

"She gets paranoid and thinks everyone's out to hurt her," Penny added on to explain Marie's actions. "We need to make sure she's not trying to escape; mom bought her medication again, but we just need to get it to her."

"And so you want me to help look for her?" Edd bit his lip nervously, but the look on Lee's face was an answer worth more than any words. "I was afraid you were going to say that."

* * *

**Welp, the plot for the next little bit has been established, and this is going to get pretty rough. But yeah, not too much EddxMarie in this chapter, but I'll make it up to you guys here soon, so feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	12. Chapter 11 - Kisses and Poison

**Sorry this chapter took longer to get out, I had a few real life things pop up that delayed me a little, but yeah, I should be going back to me usual schedule. I was also debating on starting on another story to write and release chapters in between. Just some fun ideas I've been debating. I don't know, I enjoy juggling two stories or so.  
**

* * *

"Okay, so do we know where Marie may have run off to?" Edd placed his hands down onto the table after Lee returned from calling her mother about Marie. "Also, when is your mother coming to help?"

"She has to finish up at work, which'll be about two hours, but she called Kroger's and told them she wouldn't make it in tonight, so she'll help us later," Lee explained and lit another cigar out of compulsion. May had to explain that whenever Lee was stressed, she would smoke like a freight train to keep her from punching through the drywall.

"Knowing Marie, she went off to somewhere that she can try and relax before running off, so are there any places that we know she would go?" Penny inquired and sat down into one of the chairs around the table. "Also, why is _he _here?"

"Because big Ed wanted to help," May puffed her cheek out and gave the lovable big guy a hug. "I didn't tell him why Marie's out, but he said he'd help look."

"Plus I get gravy if I help," Ed said dumbly with a goofy grin as May pat his head softly.

"I'm sure you will, Ed," Edd laughed and shook his head. "Okay, so I think we should take a pill each and split up; that way we can medicate her the moment we find her."

"Gotta hand it to you, Sockhead, you at least aren't stupid," Lee casually half-complimented as she handed everyone a pill hidden inside of a small zip-lock bag. "Alright girls... and guys... If you find out anything make sure to call so we know what the hell is going on." She explained as she took a long drag from her cigar. "Also, don't do anything fucking stupid." Her gaze turned towards Edd when she tacked on that last little bit.

"I call going with Ed!" May grinned and clung to his arm, pulling him out of the house with a dopey grin.

"That girl can always find time to flirt," Penny joked and opened the door for the others, which after Lee had passed by, she held out her hand to stop Edd for a moment. "Look, please don't hurt my sister... I'm not going to make threats like Lee or support you like May, but just don't hurt her again. I won't be able to handle I ever have to see her that depressed again."

Edd just stared at Penny for a moment in surprise from the sincerity in her words. She really was a sharp contrast to the Kankers, proving that there was more different between the girls than just their last names. He only nodded to her though as he spoke, "I'll try not to..."

"Good, now go find my sister and make her happy," Penny grinned playfully and gave Edd a hard pat on the back to push him out of the trailer. "Also, make sure to find her before it starts raining; I don't want her to get sick _and _hallucinating." She said and pointed to the dark gray skies that were looming overhead.

* * *

"So you haven't seen her?" Edd grimaced a little as he talked to Nazz. He figured that the first place to check would be the Nickelcade, mostly because it was a nice place to calm down and he knew that she loved it.

"Sorry dude, I haven't seen her since the last time you were here too," Nazz replied with a shrug. "Why, you and her have a fight and break up or something?"

Edd felt his cheeks heat up a little from her words, but something inside honestly made him not want to deny their relationship status. "No, I just haven't heard from her and am just a bit worried I guess."

"Well, sorry, but hey, if I see her I'll be sure to give you a call," Nazz smirked playfully before turning towards the group of customers that had just walked in. Edd knew that Nazz still had a kind of schoolgirl crush on him, but he just stopped having feelings for her; especially after her and Eddy dated.

As he walked out towards his car, he could hear the roll of thunder in the distance as if it were ominously heralding the storm. 'I better find her soon,' He thought to himself and climbed into his car.

* * *

"Marie? Why do you ask?" The manager at Mike's Repair Shop asked. Although everyone knew that the guy owned the place, he still wore that name tag for some reason.

"I'm her... friend, and she apparently just kind of disappeared from her house, so I'm helping her sisters find her," Edd grimaced wryly and fiddled nervously with the hem of his shirt. He honestly was getting upset at the fact that nowhere he seemed to go had any information at all.

"Is that right? Damn, I hope she's okay... I saw her earlier actually; well, I saw her truck drive by, heading south." Edd gave a loud sigh of relief, to which Mike only smirked. "You're that boy aren't you; that one she was talking about the other day?"

"What was she saying?" Edd looked at him curiously.

"She usually talks to me about shit that's stressing her, and she started venting about guy troubles," Mike explained. "You're a lucky guy; she's a sweet girl once you get to know her, just a little gruff on the surface."

Edd smiled a little at his words, "She really is... I just wish I had seen it earlier. I have to go then and find her, thanks again!" He shouted back as he practically ran out of the store, albeit in a horrible looking fashion that made Mike burst out laughing.

"Oh god, who the hell runs like that?!"

* * *

"_Yeah, Johnny saw Marie driving to the junkyard,_" May explained over the phone. "_Me and Big Ed already looked though, and she's either buried herself in trash or just isn't here._"

"How long ago, did he tell you?" Edd asked over the phone as he looked on either side of the road for Marie.

"_He said it was like twenty minutes before we got there?_" May replied. "_Where do you think she would go?_"

"_God, get your asses down to the junkyard and look around for her, she couldn't have gotten far!_" Lee hissed from her end, clearly not in the best of moods from her long day of antagonizing half of the city.

"I'm already on Birchwood Drive, so I'll look to eastward," Edd informed them before hanging up his phone and turning his full attention back to the road that was now being drenched in the summer rain. "Peach Creek really does know how to have the worst weather at the worst times."

It was hardly a moment before his phone rang yet again, which he answered halfheartedly without bothering to look at the caller ID, "This is Eddward."

"_Can it Sockhead, I have a question,_" He heard the distinctive voice of Eddy on the other end.

"Hi to you too, Eddy, I'm a little busy right now though, but what did you need to know?" Edd tried not to let his impatience show through in his voice; after all, he hated being angry with any of his friends, even if Eddy had a horrible habit of calling at horrible times.

"_How the hell do you make Sarah stop crying? Like, I can't find a fucking off button on her,_" Eddy groaned in a hushed voice, which made room for an audible whale that Edd knew all too well.

"Why are you even with Sarah? Doesn't she hate you?" Edd's expression went a little wry in confusion, but he felt like that was a story for another day.

"_Look, it's a long story and I don't have time to explain, but she's been crying for two hours now and I think my shirt's ruined from her tears,_" Eddy explained hastily.

"Okay, let's see," Edd thought back on his and Sarah's relationship, trying to dig up old memories he had with her. "It's going to cost you, but go to Fussolini's Chocolate Emporium and buy her a milk-chocolate bacon bar."

"_Fussolini's?! That's like a $10 bar of chocolate!_" Eddy half-shouted into the phone in disbelief, but was cut off by another audible whale in the background. "_Fine, anything else?_"

"Get her a few truffles too, she usually likes to snack on those after she calms down a little," Edd finished. "By the way, is she okay?" Although the two were broken up for quite a while now, he couldn't help but worry about her still, even if it is more platonically.

"_Yeah, she's just being a moody woman,_" Eddy laughed. "_Thanks though, Sockhead, I owe you one._"

"Thank nothing of it, I'm just glad I could h-" Edd was cut off by the sound of his friend hanging up, which made him just roll his eyes. Out of all of the people he knew, Eddy really had horrible phone etiquette. 'Looks like he hang up just in time though,' Edd smirked to himself when he noticed the dark red pick-up truck poking out from between the bushes on a small gravel side road. "Let's just hope she didn't wander too far."

* * *

Marie felt filthy from all of the dirt that caked her clothes, which had only gotten worse the moment it started to rain. It took her a few hours, but she was already around four feet into the ground with nothing but a shovel and a pissed attitude. Despite doing what the assholes around her were saying, they still found it fun to criticize her. "Where the hell is the fucking case?"

"Deeper, dig deeper, stupid!" The woman shouted at her, causing Marie to drop to her knees in exhaustion. "Of course you take a break... So worthless."

"She needs coffee from Coffee Co. brand Coffee," A man chimes in.

"They're coming for you, dig faster before they find you!" Another man hisses at her, only managing to give Marie enough energy to stab weakly at the dirt beneath her, more or less just disturbing the soil rather then effectively digging deeper.

"I'm trying, just shut up and let me dig!" Marie spit out and stabbed the shovel into the ground violently this time, landing with a resounding clinking noise. "Well I'll be damned, I think I found it."

"Coffee Co. brand Coffee is made of fifty-percent cumin to ensure 25% higher efficiency when used as an aphrodisiac in fishing."

"Open it, worthless... Open it and run."

"Marie?" Another man chimed in, making her stir uneasily.

"Who's there this time?! I'm not fucking worthless if that's what you are going to say!" She hissed out and stabbed the shovel into the side of the hole she was now sitting in.

"But you are," The woman spoke, but was interrupted by the man once more.

"Who has been saying you're worthless?" He questioned, and after only a moment she had noticed the man standing on the outside of the hole with a worried look on his face. Although it didn't register who it was immediately, she felt a stroke of relief the moment it had.

"Edd..." She mumbled, staring up at him, "Why are you wet?"

"He knows! Run, he knows and he knows you know!" Another man shouted at Marie, which was almost enough to make her flinch away, but instead she turned to face the man.

"No, you shut up! Edd's not going to hurt me!" She swung and hit her hand against the muddy wall. "He won't..." She mumbled again, with a lot less ferocity in her tone.

"Marie, who are you talking to?" Edd took a nervous step back, watching the scene unfold before him.

"Edd, they said you're going to hurt me..." Marie explained, turning her attention back to the case beneath her, which she pulled out by the handle through the mud. "They're lying though... I know you wouldn't, would you?"

"Of course he will!"

"Of course I won't," Edd stretched his hand out slowly towards Marie, but it didn't escape her notice that look that was plastered on his face. It wasn't warm like his smile implied, but it was something that made her gut wrench at the idea.

"Are you scared of me?" She said somberly while her face drooped, as if to show the pain that jolted through her chest. He was wearing a look that she hadn't seen from him since they were children and she would chase him all over the cul-de-sac.

"I... No..." Edd said with a shaky voice.

"You're lying to me..." Marie said quietly but simply climbed out of the hole with the box in hand and a deadened expression forming on her face. She knew that look all too well, and it stung worse than ever to see it now of all times. "I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone so you won't be scared..."

Edd simply watched helplessly as Marie walked away, step by step towards her truck with the rain pouring down onto her. It was the first time he ever noticed something so simple, but Marie really did have a feminine figure; it took him until her clothes literally clung to her body to realize it, but she really did have one. "Marie..." He murmured quietly, letting that sinking feeling in his stomach weigh him down like an anchor. For the first time in years, he felt dirty, and not the 'I need a bath' kind of dirty, but a feeling driven by the phobia of filth of dirt. He was cold, muddied, and watching the girl he loved walk away because he was too much of a coward to stop her.

Almost.

If he let her walk away like this, then everyone's fears would come true and Edd would prove that he was doing nothing more than hurting Marie. 'Can you live with yourself Eddward if she hurts herself again?' He thought to himself, and that's when he made his choice. "Marie!"

Marie froze in place from the tone of the voice that Edd had. He wasn't known for being dominant at all, so actually hearing him put on a commanding tone was almost as shocking as seeing a pig fly. It only lasted for a moment though, before she continued to walk towards her car, having a lingering voice speak to her from the back of her head, "He's just like the others, run away and never come back, worthless."

She only made it five more steps before she felt two arms wrap around her from behind, trapping both of her arms to her sides as their grip tightened against her stomach, and despite the voice telling her to flee, she instead froze up in a combination of shock and fear. "E-Edd, let go!"

"No!" Edd half-shouted and squeezed her tighter to emphasize his denial. "Not until we talk and you take your medication."

"Medication?" Marie's eyes widened in horror from what he had said. "How the fuck do you know about my meds?!" She easily broke free of Edd's weak grasp and turned around to face him with a mixed expression of fear and anger in her eyes. It only took her a moment to have Edd down against the ground on his back, pinned with her legs astride his hips and one hand next to his head while the other grabbed the collar of his shirt. "Talk!"

"I know everything," Edd said with a shaky voice, feeling as if his heart was going to beat its way up and out of his throat. If he felt uneasy before, he felt horrified of the infamous Kanker rage that the sisters was known for. "L-Lee showed me the notes from the hospital..."

"What?! God, no wonder you think I'm a fucking freak!" Marie hissed and let go of his collar before visibly drooping and placing her other hand on the other side of Edd's head, shielding him from the rain as it assaulted her. "Because that's what I am..."

"_You're worthless too._"

"_Foolish._"

"_Insane._"

"_Coffee Co. Employees love the taste of coffee due to an addiction that all employees must have._"

"Marie, I promise you're not..." Edd offered her quietly, trying to keep his voice calm. He only stared up at her muddied face for what felt like hours in thought. Everything she had done over the past few days made a little more sense now; even what had happened during their childhood. Marie wasn't something someone could fix, but he knew he wanted to help her get through what was happening, no matter how she felt for him.

Like that, it started with him raising his hand and slowly caressing Marie's cheek in an attempt to calm her, but while her expression had softened a little, he couldn't help but notice the water on her face was far too warm for the rain. "Please don't cry," Edd murmured quietly, doing his best to wipe away the tears with his thumb, although they were only to be replaced by the cold rainwater running down her face. 'Filthy, filthy mud,' He heard himself silently murmur in the back of his head, but he did his best to silence that thought and only focus on the crying girl sitting above him.

Never had he seen her so fragile before; in fact, he always thought Marie was stronger than even Ed, and yet she was in tears and feeling more broken than a shattered mirror. "Double D... I'm so sorry..." Marie croaked out with a hoarse voice, collapsing down onto him, burying her face into his neck and grabbing onto his shoulders with both hands. "God damn it, why the hell do I have to be so crazy?! Why the fuck won't they shut up?!"

Edd just sat wide eyed for a good minute before it registered what he was saying, which he slowly wrapped his arms around Marie's back and softly ran his hand through her matted hair uneasily to try and calm her. He wasn't really sure what to say, so he opted to just stay quiet as she cried, but after what was easily thirty minutes of sitting in the rain, she finally spoke with a hoarse whisper. "Double D, I can't help but love you..."

Her words caught him off guard, and as such had made his breath catch in his throat, but he only pulled her closer for a brief moment before she lifted her head to look at him in the face. "Marie... I-"

"Shh, I know I'm just being bonkers like back then," Marie rolled her eyes softly and gave a soft sniffle. Even though she was crying and her eyeliner was streaked down her face, he couldn't help but notice for once just how beautiful she was. It was subtle compared to how she carried herself, but her cheeks were rounded and feminine and she wore a few freckles that her glasses seemed to draw attention from.

"But it's not delusions this time..." Edd murmured, catching Marie off guard.

"Stop it, don't fuck with my head!" Marie hissed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "God, you make me want to hit you sometimes."

"_Run, he wants to hurt you! Run!_"

"Marie, I'm not lying..." Edd said quietly with a little shakiness returning to his voice again, but he locked eyes with her to emphasize that he was telling the truth. "I've known you for years now, Marie, and if I wasn't so blind as a kid, I probably would've noticed how funny, intelligent, and attractive you are earlier. Instead I had to learn the hard way and put you through a lot as well... And for that, I'm sorry."

"I... God, you get so sappy," Marie joked a little with another sniffle, but offered him a halfhearted smile. "I swear I'd kiss you if I wasn't hearing five fucking people yell at me right now."

Despite the fact that she was trying to joke, Edd could see the pain in her expression that made his heart melt. He knew he was analytical and preferred cold facts over feelings, but he knew good and well that he wanted nothing more to kiss her, and so he looked up at her and brought his hands to her cheeks to catch her attention.

"I don't..." Marie murmured quietly a she looked into Edd's eyes with a mixture of pain and desire radiating from her expression. It wasn't too long ago that they had almost kissed in that park, but this was different... She didn't care so much now; it was like having him admit how he felt had washed away that fear that he was going to hurt her again. "God damn it, you're making this hard..."

"Good," Edd commented quietly and slowly pulled Marie's face down towards his, which she obliged even if it was just subconsciously. "I'm not good at telling people how I feel, but I do love you, Marie." He murmured and closed the gap, and although it was only for a brief moment, it felt like a moment of heaven to Marie; as if years of her chasing him had met a closure, but she realized that it wasn't a closure from what he had said.

'Oh god, did he really just say that?!' Marie froze up with her mouth slightly open, and once more tears had started to roll down her cheeks. "H-How the hell can you be so cheesy?" She tried to joke halfheartedly, but she honestly wanted to do nothing more than kiss him again and again, but she couldn't bring herself to.

"Marie, let's get you back to the car... Your sister's are going to kill me if they find us like this," Edd joked, choosing to ignore her question out of a combination of embarrassment and worry for Marie.

"Fine, but I don't want those fucking pills right now," Marie deadpanned and slowly sat up, and looked down at the boy beneath her with a sly grin. "You're lucky you're cute or I'd probably be halfway to Lemonbrook right now."

Edd smirked a little and followed her back to the cars, deciding that he would drive her home considering her apparent condition. When he tried to call Lee, Marie told him that she wanted to at least take a warm bath before dealing with her sisters, but he did manage to make her agree to take her medication in exchange... Which ended with him being punched several times before she agreed.

* * *

**Okay, I'm aware this chapter was a little shorter than usual, but it felt like a good place to stop it... The morally gray area of kissing a hallucinating girl in the rain; but yeah, while this chapter ended relatively peacefully, expect the schizoaffective disorder to play some pretty big roles later on as well.**

** Anyways, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


	13. Chapter 12 - A Dinner and a Show Part I

It had been days since that night, and not a single word had been spoken between Marie and Edd; although it was hardly due to effort on either person's part. Edd had ended up working on Sunday and decided to try and spend time with his parents before they had to go back to work. Marie on the other had had been scheduled for Monday and Tuesday after school, so Edd decided that he would spend the day with her.

"So, you're going with Clara, Ed?" Edd smiled as he placed his text books neatly into his locker while his friend drank a thick brown gravy from a gravy bowl that he had apparently been keeping in his own locker.

"Huh? Y-Yeah, I asked her to prom," Edd noticed the hint of shakiness in his friend's voice, but decided to just shrug it off as nervousness. After all, Ed had never actually gone to a dance with anyone before.

"That's good; she always looks so lonely, so I'm proud of you," Edd smiled and gave his friend a lovable pat on the head that he seemed to make habit of. "By the way, have you heard from Eddy? He's missed for three days now."

"I think he's skipping," Ed says casually and places the bowl back into his locker and grabbing his gym bag before closing it. "Oh Double D, did you see 'Revenge of the Were-Chicken' last night?"

Edd smirked and shook his head, "No, sorry Ed, I was pretty tired from work." Although it wasn't really a lie, Edd didn't have the heart to tell his friend that he wasn't really a fan of those horrible b-flick movies like his friends had always been.

"Hey Ed, can I talk to you?" Their conversation was interrupted by the young brunette that they had just been discussing. Clara wasn't exactly ugly, but she definitely had the appearance of the 'poor kid' with her frayed shirt, denim jacket, and tattered jeans. Even her glasses were beat up, having duct tape holding them together in two places.

"Sure, about what?" Ed inquired, to which Edd noticed a slight blush in his cheeks when she had grabbed onto his hands. "Oh, yeah!"

Edd smiled as he watched his friend walk off with his date. He knew that Ed was a little lonely, and Clara wasn't particularly popular because of her financial status, so they both probably needed some kind of relationship. That being said though, Edd couldn't help but notice how poor the girl had looked; and not in just financially, but she was as pale as a corpse. "Hope she's not sick or something..."

"Hope who's not sick?" The voice of none other than Marie Kanker asked from behind him, making him almost jump out of his skin in surprise. "Jesus Double D, paranoid?"

After taking a slow, deep breath, he turned to face Marie with an honest smile that actually made her freeze up for a moment in surprise. Edd couldn't help but notice how she looked today; having her hair dyed from her signature blue to a deep purple with matching eyeshadow and her glasses were actually missing now, allowing her to sweep her hair over her eye like she usually had. "You look good, Marie. I like what you did with your hair."

"Yeah? I accidentally bought the wrong box, so I kind of just decided to roll with it," She shrugged and locked her arm around Edd's. "I also finally got new contacts so I can stop wearing those stupid glasses."

"And here I thought they looked cute on you," Edd joked and started heading towards the gym, but a quick tug had lead him astray towards a door leading outside of the school. "W-Wait, what are we..?"

"We're skipping, duh," Marie said calmly as if it were obvious as the sky being blue. "Take a walk on the wild side with me."

Edd suddenly felt his face redden at the realization of just how close she was to him. While they had locked arms like this in the past, he hadn't been so self-conscious because they weren't dating; well, at least he kind of assumed they were dating after what had happened. "But what if we get caught?!"

"God, it's the end of the year, don't be a wet blanket," Marie joked as she pulled him along until they took the first step off of the school grounds, which had made Edd visibly shudder at the realization that he had just left school.

While he had missed whole days in the past, he didn't even consider the possibility of just... walking away. Although it was an appalling thought, he couldn't help but feel a little invigorated at the same time by it. While they walked, he started to think of what to say, and eventually settled on something he wasn't all too sure if she wanted to discuss, "You seem to have calmed down a lot..."

"Hm? Oh, yeah, sorry about all that... Usually I start to calm my ass down after a day or so when I start taking my meds," She explained and shrugged with her free arm. "Sorry for getting you dragged into that, but... Thanks for being there."

He felt his heart speed up from her words, or rather, the sincerity _in _her words. Marie wasn't known to be particularly sweet, even to her boyfriends in the past. "So, do you just stop being bipolar and hallucinating when you take them, or...?"

"Oh god no, like, they help _control _my fucked up head, but they don't stop it," Edd let out a soft sigh of relief at her response; he was worried that it would come across as offensive with how he had worded it, but he really did find himself curious. "So no, I still get all depressed or manic and shit, and sometimes I still freak out, but it's nowhere near as often and especially not near as bad."

"Well, that's good," Edd replied, not really having any more questions bubble to the surface. "So, since you have me on the 'wild side', did you have a plan?"

"I want to get to my truck first of all," Marie joked and poked her tongue out at him. "By the way, I think I saw you come to school with Eddy, right?"

"Yes, that's correct, so I don't have to worry about my car," He explained. "But wait, why didn't you park on school grounds?"

"Because I was planning on leaving, and they'll notice us if we drove out in my huge-ass truck," Marie explained casually.

"Wait, so you planned to drag me out of school?!" Edd half-shouted in shock. To think, all of this time, he just assumed that she winged everything that she did; but no, Marie had proven to be clever and thoughtful.

"I'm not going to either agree or disagree to that statement," She said coolly with a sly grin, sweeping her hair behind her ear and brushing her bangs back over her right eye. Edd couldn't really get used to the bizarre color that her hair was, but he did have to admit that it looked pretty good.

"But anyway, I was thinking you'd be a sweet guy and treat me to dinner at this new burger joint that just opened," She batted her showing eye playfully at Edd with a smooth smirk that just made him falter.

"O-Of course Marie, that sounds nice," He replied nervously and adjusted his tie reflexively. 'Not even a week since we kissed, and she's already putting me through the ringer,' Edd complained quietly to himself, although he was half-joking while thinking it.

"You were thinking something rude just now, weren't you?" Marie inquired, making Edd's heart skip a beat.

'What kind of intuition does she have?' He looked down at the girl walking next to him that wore a sweet smile. "N-No, of course not, I was just thinking of how excited I am to go on a date with-" He stopped mid-sentence when he realized he just kind of assumed it was a date.

"A date? You're assuming an awful lot," Marie teased and squeezed his arm with her own. "Well, if that's what you want this to be, then it's a date."

"A date, so what is this restaurant like?" Edd blushed a little with a smile.

"They have tater-tots, that's all I need to know," Marie grinned widely, showing her teeth and her excitement. It was no secret how Marie felt for tater-tots, so Edd just chuckled a little to himself as they arrived to her truck.

* * *

"See? I told you that any place that sells tots can't be bad," Marie said in a completely serious tone, which Edd knew that any other person probably would have meant that as a joke, but this _was _Marie after all.

"I'll admit that I'm pleasantly surprised," Edd replied and took a bite out of his burger. Although he admittedly normally liked to eat healthy, it was always nice to indulge a little every now and then. The burger was greasy, but delicious at the same time.

"Well, mister and missus truancy," They both were caught off guard when they noticed a girl sit down at their table with a sly smirk. Her auburn hair was tied up in a french braid and she was wearing the blue and white outfit that other employees wore.

"Oh hi, Penny," Marie smirked at her sister, trying to hold back a laugh. "Really? You decided to work fast foo-" She paused her insult for a moment as a light bulb went off above her head. "Oh my god, you can totally bring home tots after you finish work!"

Penny shot her a disbelieving look that just screamed 'really?'. With a laugh though, she just shook her head and replied, "I _could_, but you decided to insult my job choice." She looked over at Edd instead and smiled coolly, "Now Edd, if you want anything to eat, I'll gladly get that for you since you aren't rude like my sister."

Edd felt his cheeks light up a little at Penny's joking flirt, only to feel a sharp pain in his shin from what was no doubt a jealous Kanker. "Gah!" Now, the problem was that he wasn't sure if she was more jealous about her sister flirting with him, or the fact that he was offered free tater-tots instead.

"Seriously though, I can probably get you guys a family and friends discount if you want, but I have to go back and get clocked in," She joked and stood up, walking through the double doors into the kitchen.

"Did you hear that?! You should totally buy me more tots!" Marie grinned and gave Edd a playful nudge with her foot, rather than a scornful kick.

"But you had three boxes..." Edd deadpanned for a moment, but in the end he had caved in and bought her another large box for them to share. Well, for him to have only three tots and Marie to gorge herself on the rest. "So, is Penny your older or younger sister?" Edd asks casually as he took a drink from his cup. Although he had been both intimidated and had casually conversed with the girl, he knew next to nothing about her.

"Penny? Well, technically I'm older by like five minutes," Marie replied in between shoving tater-tots into her mouth. "If you want to get technical, we're fraternal twins. Although she was... erm... Never mind."

"Never mind? What were you going to say?" Edd raised his brow curiously.

"Ah, it's personal and I can't tell you, only she can," Marie shrugged and ate another tater-tot. Although Edd was still admittedly curious, he nodded his head in respect to Marie's wishes. After all, it wasn't his place to pry into her sister's personal life.

"Whatever though, hey, do you want to watch a movie or something? I don't really have anything to do today, and they just had that new Terminator movie come out," Marie suggested slyly and took Edd's hand.

"Y-Yeah, of course," He smirked a little and nodded. Although he didn't particularly enjoy the Terminator films, he figured that spending more time with Marie would at least be a good date.

Granted, he was expecting a normal movie date, he however wasn't expecting what was going to happen.

* * *

**Okay guys, so this is a short as hell filler-esque chapter, but I had a bit of a time constraint on this one. That being said, next chapter should be a little interesting and longer, so let's see how it works out.**

** Anyways, feel free to like, dislike, comment, critique, scenario, or favorite this story; I do enjoy some constructive criticism, so feel free to give it.**


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